My Tsundere Queen
by sorahime345
Summary: Takao Kazunari has a normal life until one of the GoM member, Midorima Shintaro transferred in to Shuutoku! Even though he has a grudge against Shintaro, how will Takao cope up with his daily life with her sudden appearance? Basically a generic shojo-story of boy meets tsundere girl and get-together stuff. Takao x fem! Midorima (fem! GoM)
1. Ch1: The Queen Approaches

**a/n=Reviews are well appreciated! I am a big midotaka fan, but I think making a tsundere midorima is cute too :p**

**Please R&amp;R!**

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Takao Kazunari was classified as one of those generic teenagers.

He has many friends and well liked by others. He's what everyone called a typical class clown—whenever he goes, trouble always follows him. Not to mention, the raven-haired teenager was part of the basketball club, which boosted his popularity among women. He's an excellent point guard after all, with his trump card, the hawk eye.

His family was quite decent—his mother was a terrible cook, his father was a comedian and his straight-laced sister always scolded him for his terrible jokes. His grandparents visited once in a while to his relief, especially his grandmother, who was a good chef that Takao advised her to enter a competition—well she's too old for that. His grandfather, like his father, is an excellent comedian who would bring smiles and laughter whenever he goes.

Takao has everything in life. Anyone would be more than happy to switch places with the hawk-eye. Sometimes, he thought his life was exactly like the typical teenagers from the television, and he hoped that one day something interesting would popped up in his life to give a spice to his so-called daily life.

But the basketball match during his middle school had crushed his pride.

During middle school, they competed against Teiko Junior High, which what everyone called them 'Generations of Miracles'. This team surpassed the ability of a decent human being. But what surprised everyone wasn't GoM's endless chain of victories; it was the fact that these members were all middle school girls with boy names.

Even though Shuutoku was full of hardworking players, they were beaten badly by the GoM. What frustrated the Shuutoku players wasn't the fact that they lost; it was the fact that the GoM didn't took them seriously during the match.

One of the GoM members that destroyed Shuutoku completely was none other than Midorima Shintaro, the green-haired girl who wore glasses. Ever since that event, Takao, who usually took things lightly, swore to take revenge on Shintaro during the high school's Inter-High and Winter Cup.

* * *

It was the start of the season of youth.

New freshmen flooded the Shuutoku's school gates. Takao's eyes were trained on the overflowing amount of people coming into his school. Whistling, he turned to his senpai, Miyaji Tadashi.

"Look Miyaji-senpai!" Takao exclaimed brightly, turning to his upperclassman. "There are so many people transferring this year! I wonder if any of them will join the basketball club!"

Instead of reciprocating his feeling, Miyaji flashed him a bitter glare. "Stupid! I prefer to keep our team as it is rather than recruiting a bunch half-assed people! Quality over quantity, remember?"

Takao heaved a sigh and smiled playfully. "As expected from Miyaji-senpai. You're as straight laced as my sister!"

"Shut up! Do you want me to throw you with a pineapple?" Miyaji chided, slightly worked up by Takao's offhanded comment.

"Okay okay, I apologize, senpai." Takao raised his hands in surrender, his smile still plastered on his face. "By the way, Pineapples don't grow in spring."

The two basketball players spent the next minute in silence as they stared the new freshmen in silence from the window. The group of boys next to them was mainly focusing on the incoming female population, throwing off comments such as _'cute', 'pretty', 'beautiful' _and other kinds of random comments such as pointless attempts to ask a girl out, which would fail horribly as they peed on their pants before they can even start a conversation.

Takao simply joined the boat out of curiosity. While his short-fused, yellow haired senpai was seeking for basketball members potential, Takao simply bored his gaze to the herd of people passing through the school gate.

"_What's the point of doing this anyway?"_ Takao questioned inwardly. His mind was always occupied with basketball instead of love interests. Couples dated for a few months and tearfully broke up; then the cycle repeated. Even though Takao has many friends with this compatible issue, Takao really found the whole thing to be absurd.

What is the whole point of dating if you're going to break up anyway? What exactly is the first thing that makes you attracted to a particular person? Either way, Takao considered all girls and boys to be the same—that's why he turned down all the confessions he had gotten for the past few years.

Suddenly, the crowd roared and snapped him from his wake. Takao blinked in confusion. He turned to his senpai, who was surprisingly screaming as well.

The hawk eye didn't even bother to close his bleeding ears as he raised his voice. "Oi, what's going on?"

Miyaji suddenly smacked Takao's head, causing the hawk-eye to cringe in pain. "Your skull is really thick, aren't you? Look at the window and get a grip Takao!"

Rolling his eyes, Takao nonchalantly peered through the window—he was expecting a beautiful girl with oversized boobs and baby-like face that turned everybody on including his senpai.

Then he found his suspicion to be partially true.

Takao's jaw dropped when his eyes fell upon the waist length, green haired girl walked gracefully along the school gate. Straightening her glasses, the girl craddled a fragile, frog miniature in her tiny arms.

Her long legs and pale skin probably stunned all the boys behind him, but Takao was bewildered by the fact that he recognized the face pretty well.

Midorima Shintaro—GoM's ultimate shooting guard, who can shoot perfectly from any range in the court.

"See that beauty over there?" Miyaji's voice piped up teasingly beside him, yet his face was stern. "Looks like this will be a tough year for us, Takao."

Takao tried to keep his composure. His weakness was being quiet and composed, but this situation might be an exception. He simply commented lazily. "Well, she's probably gonna be in the top chart in the boys' 'Girls to ask out' list."

Miyaji let out a dry chuckle. "That's really obvious."

"Hm." Takao hummed, staring intently at Midorima

Even though he had slight hatred towards the shooter, Takao admitted that Midorima was beautiful—it was the first time in his life to admit such a thing. Her petite fingers were covered by bandages, her skirt was too short for her height, and her expression was stoic and emotionless. Takao found them all to be cute.

Suddenly, a faint blush crept to his cheeks. No, this wasn't how it supposed to look like! Midorima Shintaro was always his rival. One sided though...

But what if she joined the basketball club? That would mean that he had to get a grip and cooperate with her.

The thought sent a wave of jitteriness up his spine. A comical, white spirit flew out of Takao's body—Takao wasn't the type to have social anxiety, so why now?

"So Takao." Miyaji turned to him with a serious expression. "What will you do?"

The said question echoed in his mind. Obviously, he can't just approach her and pick a fight, which will stain his pride as a man. He wanted her to know his feelings about avenging her, but at the same time, he just wanted to have a normal, boy-girl relationship. Wait…the last part was unintended.

Before Takao could answer his senpai, his homeroom teacher walked in. He bid goodbye to his senpai before slipping into his seat at the back of the class by the window. The teacher's presence put the class into dead silence.

After he was convinced he got the attention he needed, the teacher cleared his throat before speaking. "Today, we have a new transfer student. She is the only new student in our class."

All eyes were directed to the front door as the door opened, and Midorima Shintaro gracefully walked in to the classroom. Gasps of awe swept among the room, but Midorima didn't even falter. She boldly wrote her name on the board and turned facing the class after she finished writing.

"My name is Midorima Shintaro." She said with a deadpanned expression. "I came from Teiko Junior High School. My horoscope is Cancer. This guy right here is called Kerosuke-san. He is my lucky item for the day. Please treat him well."

Silence.

Midorima was met by a dozen of stares from her classmates. Takao's jaw dropped—the first part of the introduction was alright, but the last part was definitely unnecessary!

The teacher blinked rapidly and he finally spoke. "All right Midorima-san. Please sit to the empty seat beside Takao-kun."

Everybody in the class—mainly the boys—casted deathly glances to the hawk eye, as if they wanted to sacrifice Takao's body for lunch. Takao gulped, sweat dropped.

Midorima strolled to her seat, passing through the line of classmates whose eyes were fixed on her. Pretending not to notice anything, Midorima sunk in her seat and pulled out her textbook from her bag. She placed Kerosuke right in front of her.

Takao's eyes were fastened on the green-haired beauty. Is she really the girl Takao had been having grudges on? If so, it's good to be true; she really looked like a normal girl in Takao's eyes, now that he looked closer.

Soon, time passed and the first lesson was history.

As their history teacher rambled something about the history of England and France, Takao used the position of his seat as an advantage—sleeping. Some of his classmates had went off to their dream land from the first minute class had started, and some of them pretended to pay attention by scribbling notes on their notebooks. Takao was sure the only one who paid attention was Midorima, who was the only one who looked awake in the midst of the droopy-eyed, yawning students.

The only thing that kept Takao awake was his seatmate. Once in a while, Midorima would slide her green locks behind her ears, showing off her pale skin. Takao blushed. He noticed that Midorima has long, black eyelids, and Takao found it to be very pretty.

Suddenly, Midorima accidentally fell her eraser to the floor. Unfortunately, the said object rolled all the way to under Takao's desk. Being the gentle man he was, Takao scooped the fallen object and handed it to the girl, smiling.

"Here you go, princess!" Takao smirked naughtily at her, but the girl didn't said anything, not even a thank you.

But Midorima simply stared at Takao. "What is your horoscope?"

"Heh?" Takao rubbed his head quizzically. "Scorpio, if I'm not mistaken."

Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened in horror and jerked on her seat. She gritted her teeth and pointed at him.

"Get away from me!" she growled, clutching tightly to her Kerosuke. "Today is Scorpio's most unlucky day. I don't want your misfortune to affect me!"

Takao blinked, stunned. This was probably the first time he had seen Midorima so animated. Smiling in satisfaction, Takao finally figured out Midorima's eccentric personality.

Takao wanted to talk to Midorima more, and he already decided that his mission was to get Midorima's attention.

As Takao recited his goals in his mind, he realized the teachers and students were now staring at him. The recent commotion must have caught them off guard too.


	2. Ch2: Bittersweet Daily

**a/n= sorry, this chapter is a little bit long. Please R&amp;R! Reviews are appreciated !**

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After a long time of exhaustion and boredom, the school bell finally rang, and classes had officially ended.

The squeaks of chairs and murmurs of conversation swept around the room as the first year students slowly filling out the classroom. The teacher closed his book and was the first one to leave, probably more relieved than any other souls in the room.

Usually, Takao was the first one who jumped from his seat and weaved through the hallways, having meaningful conversation or jokes with every single people he came across. But now, the raven-haired was one of the last one to leave, because he hasn't finished the class assignment, which supposed to be due on the end of the period. The hawk-eyed teen tilted his head downwards, scribbling furiously against his already crumpled and dirty paper full of eraser marks.

His seatmate, Midorima, was slipping her textbooks inside her bag, squeezing the contents to make a space for Kerosuke. Before the green-haired female finished packing, four girls strolled towards her table. Hands on their hips, the leader of the girl spoke loudly.

"What is this?" she picked up Kerosuke and inspected it in disgust. "Why are you bringing this shit to school?"

Instead of getting worked up, Midorima answered bluntly. "It's my lucky item of the day."

The leader's friend—a blonde girl in girly pigtails—let out a high-pitched chortle. "Oh my god! You are so old fashioned! I remember you're one of those MiraGen bitches, am I right?"

Takao can't help but to shift his attention towards the commotion besides him; this was bullying. All the other students were staring at them too with terrified eyes; nobody dared to step up for Midorima. Takao wanted to help, but the thought of getting a zero in his assignment, which leaded to his parents, who will forced him to quit basketball. It sent shivers up his spine. Gritting his teeth, Takao cursed himself, feeling helpless.

"Yes I am." Midorima straightened her glasses. In spite of her situation, she looked calm and composed. "The GoM meant to harm. Now if you please let me pass."

The girls switched surprised glances to one another, dumbfounded to realize their taunts didn't affect on Midorima. The leader flashed a knowing glance to her friends, and their friends nodded, smirking and giggling. Suddenly, one of the girls yanked Kerosuke and smashed it against the floor, causing it to broke into thousand pieces.

Midorima's eyes widened, and her face torn. However, she only pursed her lips and slightly raised her voice. "What have you done?"

"Look, the bitch is trying to act all cool!" the blonde spat, rolling her eyes indignantly. "You're acting like this because you're trying to play the cool-girl scenario! You want pity from the guys! As expected of Shintaro, people said you're the weirdest of the GoM!"

"Weird!" the pink-haired girl beside the blonde let out a tongue.

"Such an old bitch."

"Disgusting."

After the girls laughed in satisfaction, they walked away from Midorima's desk and left the classroom. As they strolled out of the room, they were showered by surprised stares from the students that watched the whole commotion.

After that, nobody said anything.

Everyone expected Midorima to cry or panic, but the shooter simply kneeled down and gathered the sharp fragments. The boys looked at her in pity and shook their head, leaving the classroom. Suddenly, she winced. Fresh blood trickled slowly from her finger, and a frown flashed across her face. Tilting her head downwards to hide her expression, Midorima continued sweeping up the pieces despite the pain.

On that second, Takao couldn't stand it anymore.

Screw the last question—Takao jerked from his seat and pulled out a spare bandage and an antiseptic from his bag; his Senpai Miyaji always advised him to bring first aid kit in case of injury. Takao sunk to his knees and crawled closer to Midorima. The green-haired girl almost jerks by his presence.

"What? Are you still complaining that Scorpio brings bad luck?" Takao chuckled dryly. "Come on, give me your hand."

"This happened because you sat beside me." Midorima frowned, turning her head away from him.

Takao couldn't help but to giggle. "Stupid. Now quick, your hand."

Midorima obeyed, surrendering her bleeding fingers. Takao grimaced at the sight. Quickly, he applied the antiseptic to her wound. Midorima whimpered, biting her lip. For a second, Midorima let his gaze fell upon Midorima's vulnerable face, and he bowed his head, hiding his flustered face.

A few minutes later, Takao had finished wrapping the bandages around Midorima's fingers. He tidied up his first aid kit as Midorima stood up, opening her bag and to Takao's bewilderment, pulled out the exact replica of Kerosuke.

"You still have another one?!" Takao shrieked, shocked.

"I know something like this will happen, so I brought another one just in case." Midorima replied while contemplating on her new bandages.

Takao heaved a tired sigh. "All right then, I'm going now. See ya."

After packing his belongings including his assignment, Takao walked out of the room and slapped his face inwardly. He felt stupid to simply leave Midorima alone in the classroom. What if she cries about the recent commotion? What will happen if she goes emotional? Who will stay by her side when that happens? Finally, Takao shrugged off the thought, concluding that Midorima would be fine—she's not the type of girl who needed a man after all.

When Takao finally walked out of the classrooms, he was greeted by a bunch of high-fives and fist bumps. At first, Takao believed it was their usual-greeting thing, but his suspicion confirmed when a mischievous grin split his friends' faces. One of his tallest friends, Makoto, patted Takao's shoulder in a brotherly manner.

"Congrats Kazunari!" Makoto guffawed. "Looks you hit the love flag!"

"Yeah, with the 'miracle' girl indeed!" Daichi, who was the shortest of the bunch, winked.

Before Takao could clear up the misunderstanding, a tall girl with long-black hair approached the group, pulled in by their conversation—it was the class president, Sachika.

"Takao-kun, I know this day will come." Sachika's voice trailed in a professional manner. "Even though you had rejected half of the female population."

Takao sighed, rubbing his head sheepishly. He ran his fingers to his hair in frustration. "Aww! Come on guys! I'm just being nice! People who help others are like the Samaritan!"

"A Samaritan or a prince on a white horse?" Sachika craned her head, smiling naughtily. "Don't get me mixed up with the terms, Takao-kun."

Takao exhaled a sharp sigh as his friends' laughter played on the background. Soon, the group started to talk about other things—basketball, the recent popular TV show, and Sachika's ex-boyfriend, to Takao's guilty pleasure.

"….Then you see," Takao giggled, tears already formed in his eyes. "Kensho was saying something like 'I will conquer Sachika's heart once again just like how Germany conquer France'! Along that shit, and the teacher was super pissed!"

The whole group broke into laughter while Sachika was giggling silently, blushing. Suddenly, the class president craned her head behind Takao, and her signature naughty smirk returned to her face.

Makoto sweat dropped. Because when Sachika smiled like this, she would say something that will taunt or embarassed Takao, Daichi or even him. "Umm…Class Prez, why are you smiling like that?"

Sachika hummed, clicking her fingers. "I don't wanna interrupt, but Takao-kun, I think someone is waiting for you."

Takao was expecting Miyaji-senpai to come and punish him for whatever reason, but he was surprised to see none other than Midorima Shintaro, standing behind him, arms crossed.

"Um…. hello?" Takao's words rumbled, and his body was shaking like an earthquake.

While his friends were chuckling behind him, Midorima replied him. "You're in the basketball team right? Miyaji-senpai said today there would be no practice because the court would be used."

"Ah…I see…" a small smile tugged on the end of his lips. Finally, Takao could go home earlier and finally be able to catch up with his favorite anime series. "Wait, how do you know Miyaji-senpai?"

"I just signed up to join." Midorima replied curtly and left Takao in the dust.

Takao's jaw dropped.

"Wooo! Basketball couples!" Daichi exclaimed, jumping on the spot. "Lucky bastard Takao!"

"Why did she have to go so fast? I want to squish her cheeks!" Sachika squealed, and Makoto casted her a disgusted glare.

Takao raked his mind to find an excuse to be able to leave his crazy group. "Okay guys, I need to go home now! Mom needed me to make dinner, so bye!"

With that, Takao dashed off, leaving the campus as quickly as possible to mourn on his eventful day.

"Will Takao be alright?" Makoto turned to Daichi, concerned.

"Let him be!" Sachika exclaimed, grinning. "It's part of his youth!"

Makoto and Daichi can't help but to sweat dropped on Sachika's words.

* * *

Takao gulped—things couldn't get any worse.

It was his umpteenth time the hawk-eyed opened his GPS, making sure he was on the right track to his house. Even though his house was only a few feet away, he didn't understand the fact why Midorima was walking right behind him, tailing him like a shadow.

"Hey princess." Takao turned to her. "You should go home now. I know I'm an attractive guy and all, but you should go home before it's too late."

Takao huffed a breath of relief—finally, he could be himself right in front of this complicated girl.

"Who's following you?" Midorima's eyebrows scrunched, annoyed. "I am walking home, stupid."

The green-haired girl rushed passing Takao, and Takao hurried to keep up with her fast stride. Since it was only Midorima and him right now, the hawk eyed believed it was the right time to start up a conversation.

"So, you believe in horoscopes huh? That's weird." he shuffled his feet shyly, slightly turning to look at her eyes.

"Hm." Midorima hummed, shifting her gaze to the orange sky. "I always believe in lucky items.

Takao let out a chortle, and Midorima snapped her gaze towards the chuckling raven-haired. Narrowing her eyes, she scowled. "What are you laughing about, stupid?"

"Nah." Takao shrugged off, but he was grinning. "I find it very amusing you know. Nobody believes in it anymore anyways."

"But I do." Midorima replied curtly.

"Yeah I know!" Takao laughed it off, and slowly, his gaze met Midorima's injured hands. He frowned and stared at it longingly. Midorima noticed his gaze and turned her head away from Takao.

"I owe you one." Her voice was like a whisper.

Takao's eyes widened. Did he just hear Midorima thanking him? A faint blush brushed against his cheeks. "Yeah, it's alright."

It was silent for a moment, until Midorima's soft voice intruded.

"Thank you. Takao." She turned to him, meeting him in the eye.

Takao took a step back, now that their face were too close. He could feel Midorima's steady breath fanning against his face. Midorima's eyes remained nonchalant, but there was a faint blush on her cheeks.

Finally, Takao reached to his house. His favorite anime was calling for his presence, and Takao grinned by the thought. Just as he was about to say goodbye to the green-haired girl, Midorima disappeared to the house beside him.

Takao's jaw dropped.

He peered in to the next door's address, and his eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the name _'Midorima' _written on it.

That means…they were neighbors?

Takao felt his spirit was taken away from him; he honestly have no idea what to feel right now.


	3. Ch3: Horoscopes and Slavery

**a/n=my life has been so busy lately.**

**Thanks for all the supports to my dear readers, its not as popular as my recent fics but I'm glad some people love my story!**

**Please R&amp;R^^**

* * *

After stepping out of the warm shower, Takao flopped onto his bed, his weight bounced up against the sheets. His lips pursed into a tight line, and he yanked a fistful of his hair. A low groan escaped his throat.

'_Shintaro is right next door!'_ the voice in his head rung for the umpteenth time. As the seconds went by, his heartbeat sped up by a mile, and Takao thought his heart would burst out from his chest any moment. He squeezed his eyes shut and was welcomed by darkness, but in the midst of it, he caught the face of a familiar green-haired girl, staring at him with her bewitching, sharp eyes of hers, while fluttering her distinct, long eyelids.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated beside him. Takao's eyes flew wide, jerking his body against the bed. He cursed under his breath as he grabbed the phone beside him. He switched it on and scrolled the phone indignantly, and he sighed inwardly when he saw Makoto's name flickered on the top of the screen. He opened the email from Makoto and skimmed through it:

_To: KazuHawkEye21_

_Subject: Miracle Couple~ 3_

_Yo Takao! Have you seen the episode of Mahouka a few hours ago? Well anyways, I have something interesting to tell you. I was bored so I skimmed through the students' address and you know what, I'm surprised that you and the miracle girl lived next door! Fate couldn't be anymore obvious, heh? ;D_

Takao finally heaved his long, held sigh. He groaned in frustration as his fingers ran across the keyboard on his phone.

_To: Orcabessatsu33_

_Subject: Shut up._

_yea i know that. you don't have to tell me that bakakoto._

The reply came a few seconds later. Whatever Makoto was doing right now, Takao bet on his life the said man was abandoning his current task to mess with Takao in the middle of the evening. Takao arched his eyebrows— this was so Makoto-ish.

_To: KazuHawkeye21_

_Subject: You're not the one to talk_

_Crap! It seems like her tsundere-ness has infected you huh? Personality disorder sure could be contagious. I will tell Sachika about this!_

A small laughter bubbled up on his lips, but he quickly regained his deadpan expression before typing and tossing his phone to the mountain of pillows.

_To: Orcabessatsu33_

_Subject: you're not helping, asshole_

_Shut up. I wanna sleep. G'Night xD_

Makoto didn't reply after that. Takao assumed he was already chattering the night away with Sachika, devising some dirty tricks or blackmail him with Midorima Shintaro. Whatever, this was not the first time Takao been through their crap, and he wondered again why he was attached to the class president and his friend.

Oh wait—tomorrow is Saturday. For the first time in his life, the first day of school was right before the weekend. The realization eased Takao's heart, for a while. He considered to write a letter of gratitude to the head of the school—maybe he could ask Sachika as a class project, but not now, the class president was too busy snickering on other plans, definitely not something about class prez duties.

As Takao was about to pull the sheets over his body for his screaming muscles, his cell phone rang again.

This time Takao cursed, and he frowned when an unknown number flashed across his phone, but the hawk-eyed was too sleepy to care to care, so he answered it anyway.

Before Takao could even muster his voice to speak, a familiar, stern yet soft voice, echoed from the end of the line.

"Takao."

Takao's eyes opened wide bloodshot. He almost flipped his phone, and his jaw dropped for the thousandth time; Takao hoped the muscles on his cheeks wasn't going to be all swollen for the next day.

"M-M-Midorima-san?!" he yelped, stunned. Her voice miraculously washed all the sleepiness away from him.

"Stop yelling, it hurts." Midorima commanded in her usual calm voice. "Don't get worked up. It's just me, moron."

_It's you; that's why I'm nervous, dammit! _Takao yelled inwardly, but he replied her with a forced laugh. "Hahaha…I see! I'm just surprised to see an unknown number after all."

"I don't call much," Midorima said. "I hate cell phones. Ryo-chan from Teiko gave this junk for my birthday last year, so I have no choice."

Takao's lips parted, taken aback by the sudden personal conversation. "Ah…I see…" was all he could reply as he shuffled his feet.

"You sound tired, are you okay?" Midorima suddenly asked, concern in her voice.

Takao's breathe stopped.

His heart thumped against his chest. Takao clenched a hem of his shirt and gripped it tight, gritting his teeth in frustration. He rubbed his temples sheepishly before speaking. "Ah, yea," He replied. "My body is a little bit tired. It's the first day of school after all. My muscles are screaming."

Takao swore Midorima was trying to hold her laughter—a hint of emotion! But before he could ask, Midorima replied monotonously. "What are you? A sloth? You're a basketball player right? I expect you to be better than this."

Takao frowned, but the concern in her voice managed to tug a smile on his lips. "Fine, whatever the ace says."

"Ace? Of course, I will soon be the one."

"You're quite arrogant, are you?" Takao teased her, now smirking.

"Man proposes, God disposes." Midorima responded confidently.

Takao let out a loud chortle. "What the heck Shin-chan? That's a very _cute_ quote for a girl like you!"

Midorima didn't seem to pick up the sarcasm, but she spoke hurriedly. "Don't simply call me that! It's not like we are close or anything. Damn Scorpios…"

Takao let out a long chuckle before speaking into the line. "You know what," Takao said, scratching his chin. "You're so unique, Shin-chan!"

Midorima paused, and Takao swore he heard Midorima stifled. Was she blushing? Takao tapped his foot impatiently, smirking.

"Anyway, you need good training for your body as an athlete," Midorima's voice returned, speaking like a professional fitness trainer. "And if you want, I can help you with that."

"Really?" Takao raised his eyebrows, getting interested.

"Hm." Midorima said, seemingly nodding. "Tomorrow come to my place."

"Okay, Shin-chan!" Takao saluted, smiling victoriously. He was spending his time with the Ace tomorrow? Takao felt like he had received a very rare card from his favorite card series from a random thirty-yen booster.

"Don't call me Shin-chan."

"Shin-chan! Shin-chan!" Takao cooed, laughter bubbled up on his lips.

"Whatever."

"All right then, good night, Shin-chan!"

"Takao, wait!"

"Huh?"

Curiosity flickered on his mind as Takao's mouth opened, waiting for Midorima to speak. Silence lingered for a while, and his sleepiness was taking over. Before he managed to speak, he heard a sigh of hesitation from the end of the line. After a moment of hesitation, Midorima stammered her words in one quick sentence.

"Good night!"

Then, she hung up.

After turning off his phone, Takao chuckled lightly as he leaned up against the window-lane. He closed his eyes, smiling.

"It would be nice if you can just be honest…Shin-chan."

After placing his phone on his desk, Takao hopped on to the bed and closed his eyes, praying for the day after. Tomorrow's meeting would be like a one package—he would spend time with the member of the MiraGen, and he would receive some kind of miracle training to boost his body, which would enclosed the gap between Midorima and him—as rivals. Takao snickered; Midorima really didn't know what she was doing, wasn't she? She's leveling up her own rival, even though it was just one sided.

Meanwhile in Midorima's room, the green-haired female tossed her phone to her bed, leaving it bouncing against the sheet.

She cursed on the heat of her face. She mumbled a few words as she made her way to her study, slipping her tiny body into her seat. Midorima opened the browser and typed in _'Scorpio_' to the search tab before proceeding. After a few minutes of scrolling and reading, Midorima let out a soft groan as she jumped to her bed, hugging the soft Rola plush.

"What am I doing?" Midorima muttered quietly, brushing the soft raccoon against her reddening face. "They said I was never like a girl. So why do act like one right now?"

She pulled out her glasses and placed it beside a wooden photo frame on the desk. She stole one quick glance towards the photo—six girls in Teiko uniform were smiling with glee after their first victory in the nationals—the Generations of Miracles.

* * *

The next day, Takao immediately dashed to the house next door and was surprised to find Midorima already awake and dressed neatly. For a basketball prodigy, she was too neat, Takao snickered by the thought; he found it amusing.

Takao's gaze was fixed on Midorima's short, green miniskirt before looking up straight at her. "Morning, Shin-chan!"

Midorima rolled her eyes, bored. "This short mini-skirt is my lucky item this morning."

"Doesn't it make you feel cold?" Takao craned his head, curious.

Midorima turned away from him bashfully and crossed her arms together, shifting uncomfortably. "A little bit."

"It's still in the morning after all," Takao chuckled, scratching his head. "It's gonna be a tough day for training, and besides… you will get sick of cold…"

"Let's get to the point." Midorima huffed, glaring at him.

Takao heaved a defeated sigh, beaming. "Yes ma'am!"

Without a word, Midorima disappeared to her backyard, and Takao tailed behind her. He made sure not to make so much noise, since he figured Midorima's parents were still sleeping—it would raise some questions from her parents by his presence in the morning with the daughter they love. The thought sent a wave of shivers up to Takao's spine.

Once they arrived at the backyard, Midorima unlocked the storage nearby and disappeared inside for a moment. Takao waited. Suddenly, he saw the little girl pulled out a heavy, wooden object from the storage and dumped it right in front of Takao's face.

A rickshaw.

Takao stared at the vehicle blankly before turning to her. "Wow! I can't believe your family still keep a rickshaw, Shin-chan!"

Midorima shrugged off his comment and lifted the foot of the rickshaw with her arms. Takao's brows arched; he can't believe a girl like Midorima has such a brute strength.

"Takao, give me your bike."

Takao obeyed immediately and sauntered next door, pulling out his bicycle. He was surprised to find Midorima right in front of his house with the rickshaw dumped on the ground.

Midorima's eyes lit the moment her eyes fell upon the bicycle. Quickly, she pulled the bicycle closer to her rickshaw, fumbled a leather rope from her pocket, and snaked it around the two vehicles with ease. Takao simply stared at her.

After a few moments later, Midorima was done. The bicycle was connected with the rickshaw, and Takao gulped, figuring it out where this was going.

Midorima fixed her glasses, turning to him. "From now one, you're going to pull this everyday."

Takao looked taken aback, stunned. "Excuse me?"

"By pulling out this heavy object everyday, it will train your muscles," Midorima said. "So from now on, you will pull this cart and bring me to school everyday."

Takao almost laugh. So he needed to become her slave in order for her to notice him as her rival? It would make him stronger too, and Takao thought his day couldn't be anymore luckier.

Takao chuckled, holding his stomach. "Hey, am I your boyfriend or something?"

"Do you want to train properly as an athlete?" Midorima asked him back, looked unfazed.

Takao frowned as his gaze fastened on the rickshaw and his favorite bike. No doubt, it's gonna be heavy; the size of the rickshaw was already enough, and Takao couldn't imagine how would it felt when Midorima sat on it. He shook his head furiously; there was no way Midorima could be heavy, right?

And besides, it will strengthen his muscles for his own good. For the sake of basketball; for the sake of beating her.

Takao raised his arms in surrender. "All right fine!"

He settled to his seat and ushered Midorima to sit in the rickshaw. She slowly climbed to the rickshaw, and the morning wind fluttered up her skirt, faintly showing off her Kerosuke patterned panties.

Takao turned away immediately, hiding his reddening face and his bubbling laughter.

Midorima finally sat on the rickshaw, legs crossed, oblivious of the striking chibi frog from her pants "Pedal, slave."

Takao started pedaling, and for a while, the heaviness overwhelmed him, but at least it was able to move the cart. As his sore muscles burnt, the vehicle had started moving, and for a while, Takao believed he could get used to it, as the rickshaw finally started moving smoothly.

Even though Takao used this chance to level up himself, he can't help but to feel a little bit happy to serve his beloved—he meant rival. There was no way he was falling for her, but the thought of her sometimes sent a wave of emotions to his mind. Surely, Midorima's existence was the only thought that could send Takao's friendliness on edge; like the basketball match last year, for instance.

But it was last year, what about now? Does Midorima still contact her old friends from Teiko? Is Midorima was still formidable and able to hold on the title of the 'Queen'? Whatever it was, Takao decided to stick with her for the moment, so Midorima would notice him, and accept him as her rival…even friend, or more—maybe.

As Takao's feet relentlessly pedaled on the bike like a machine, Midorima stared at the back of his head longingly.

"If we go to school like this everyday, I believe I will always be lucky." Midorima mumbled, head tilting downwards. "Scorpio and Cancer are compatible after all."

Takao was too exhausted to hear her mumbling. He slightly craned his head towards her. "Huh?"

Midorima bit her lip indignantly and straightened her glasses. "Never mind! Keep pedaling, snail!"


	4. Ch4: Teiko Angels (Part 1)

**a/n= Sorry for the long wait! First of all, I'm going to say sorry there's no midotaka romance in this one, since I decided to put the GOM flashback as GIRLS! so mind me if they are not manly and masculine and all, they're GIRLS 3**

**Please comment and review! It means a lot to me!**

* * *

After locking the clubroom, Midorima tossed the key into her backpack and headed home passing the school gate. Today, Teiko had just won their first national competition. Even though there were four more schools to go, Midorima can't help but to let the excitement flowing in her veins. A small smile decorated her lips as the four-eyed started skipping alongside the road while humming a particular tune she had listened from her favorite TV show.

"It's very rare to see your girly side, Midorimacchi!" a high-pitched voice piped up out of nowhere.

Hearing the last voice she wanted to hear, a vein popped on Midorima's head. Myriads shade of red highlighted her pale cheeks.

"What do you want, Kise?" Midorima said with a scowl, fixing her glasses.

The ponytailed blonde played with her multicolored nails before speaking. "Nah, I just happened to pass by together with Kurokocchi and Aominecchi."

Midorima craned her head, peering behind the blonde. Indeed, the dual blue haired women were standing behind Kise, laughing and chattering while wolfing their favorite popsicle.

Midorima stared at them longingly before speaking. "I see, then I will be going."

As Midorima walked to the other direction, Kise yanked her arm, stopping her.

Midorima staggered to her feet, swaying a little. Annoyed, Midorima snapped her head towards Kise, glaring at the blonde.

"What do you want?" her voice was calm with a hint of impatience.

Kise pouted before a grin split on her face. "Come on Midorimacchi! I know you're happy because we won! Let's celebrate together!"

Midorima was about to protest until Kuroko's calm voice halted her to do so. "Midorima-san, I know you're happy. There is nothing wrong to show your feelings. We, as humans being, are born with emotions. That is why Midorima-san, you don't have to be afraid to show us your smile."

'_Like the heck you could say that with your deadpanned face'._ Midorima thought as she stared at Kuroko, who was staring deep into her eyes as if she could read her soul. Midorima was silent for a moment before she started speaking.

"Well, if you guys ask me about my emotions, I am happy." Midorima swept her gaze to the road, trying to avoid their eye contact. "After all, Oha-Asa said today is a good day for Cancer. I should be happy."

Kise heaved a tired sigh and Kuroko shook her head disapprovingly. Aomine, who had stayed quiet, let out a long, stifled yawn.

"I don't care about those horoscopes or whatever," Aomine said disinterestedly, rubbing the sleepiness in her eyes. "But Midorima, no matter how you look at it, you're a girl just like Tetsu and me! Girls' feelings are very complicated, that's why you have friends to spill your emotions with! Never mind Kise, she's not a girl, but a whore."

Kise's eyes widened bloodshot and let out a theatrical gasp. "That's very rude, Aominecchi!"

"Eh am I?" Aomine raised one eyebrow, holding her laughter. "After all you're a model right? They must have asked you to open your pants for the lingerie promotion or something."

"Shut up! Aominecchi!" Kise frowned, crossing her arms.

"Your chest is bigger than me!" Aomine tilted her head sideways, eyes fastened on the two soft buns hanging on Kise's chest. "It's a C cup." Aomine commented.

Kise was now turning red and wrapped her chest defensively. "Come on Aominecchi! Midorimacchi has a D cup!"

Ignoring Kise, Aomine slung her arms around Kuroko's shoulders. "Wow Tet-chan! You're using B cup now!"

"Shut up Daiki. It's embarrassing." Kuroko pouted, turning her head away bashfully.

"That's nice, you're still growing!" Aomine guffawed, holding her stomach. "Mura-chan also has D cup, and sadly, Aka-chan haven't even reach A yet."

Midorima was stuck with her friends, who were having a roundabout argument about breasts. The four-eyed had the urge to record the whole conversation and send it to Akashi, and she was sure the heterochromatic girl would give them laps to run on the next day.

'_Should I acknowledge myself as a girl?'_ Midorima thought as she traced her hands to her chest, feeling the soft lumps under her shirt. Realizing what she's doing, Midorima shook her head in anger and embarrassment. She slapped her hand against her face, covering her reddening cheeks.

* * *

"_Game set! Teiko and Nekojima! 82-78!"_

Midorima couldn't believe her ears as the crowd cheered for them. She stopped on her tracks as she shifted her attention to the lot in the sidelines, yelling and screaming and clapping for Teiko's first victory in the Nationals. A bead of sweat ran down her face, just like the hot tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

'_I can't believe it! We won!' _

'_Nice game! Tetsu!'_

'_Let's celebrate this over snacks.'_

'_Good game everyone.'_

Midorima tilted her head downwards, hiding the tears forming in her eyes. She stole a glance to the bench where her lucky item, a soft toy penguin, was looking at her. Midorima smiled. Oha-asa was always right after all, and then…

She turned towards the other Teiko members, who were already flocking around together, hugging and crying and yelling for their first trophy.

…Her friends made everything possible.

"Shintaro." A familiar, brazen voice called behind her.

Midorima turned around and tilted her head downwards, meeting the captain, Akashi, in the eye. For the first time in her life, Akashi gave her a toothy grin. "Well done! Shintaro!"

Midorima stifled, shocked. She replied hastily. "Ah…Umm…Thanks."

Murasakibara, the tallest girl from the bunch, approached them and handed them a box of pocky. "Do you want to celebrate victory with snacks?"

Midorima and Akashi's eyes widened, switched glances, and chuckled gleefully. Akashi pulled out a chocolate stick from the box, followed by Midorima who did the same. On the other hand, Murasakibara's expression was struck with awe, for her friends rarely accepted her offer. Even though it would be less pocky sticks for her, Murasakibara smiled.

"Oi Girls!" a high-pitched voice barked out of nowhere. It was their captain, Nijimura Shuuzo. "Stop playing around! Line up and bow _now._"

"_Yes sir!"_ the six girls replied in unison as they hurried to the side to greet their opposing team.

While they were at it, Nijimura stared at the six girls for a while before filling his club report.

"I can't help it," Nijimura mumbled, shaking his head. His pen ran across the white paper before him, scribbling today's match report. "Girls are girls, even if they are in the court."

But despite his one-sided complain, Nijimura can't help but to let a small grin slipped to his face. "Well done, girls." He muttered before he stood up and headed towards the line to greet the opposing team's captain.

* * *

The following weekend:

Kise forked a piece of cake and said. "Thanks for the treat Akashicchi!"

The twin-tailed girl sipped her cup of tea before replying. "No problem, Ryota."

Murasakibara, as usual, was wolfing her favorite snack, Maiu-bo. The ice-cream waffle and caramel pancakes lay before her, waiting on the line. "It tasted nice, Akacchin."

Aomine, on the other hand, flipped the soft cake back and forth on her plate lazily. "Beh! I hate sweet stuff!"

"It's good, Dai-chan." Kuroko said, chewing her own Vanilla shortcake.

Midorima stayed quiet as she gracefully nibbled the sugary cake. Slowly, her eyes widened as the mellow taste of cream slowly and surely dominating her taste buds. Her eyes glinted with excitement as she forked the cake hurriedly to her mouth.

Akashi noticed the increased pacing on Midorima's side and said amusingly. "Shintaro seemed to be the happiest today."

Midorima paused, gaped, and fell her fork to the side. She turned her head sideways, frowning. "I'm not…it's just...this cake happens to be my lucky item for the day."

Aomine groaned, poking Shintaro's soft, plump cheeks. "Come on Shin-chan! Stop playing the tsundere act for today!"

"I'm not a _tsundere_!" Midorima retorted, blushing hardly. "And don't call me Shin-chan!"

"Shincchi." Murasakibara's voice piped up lazily, but she had the smug smile on her face.

"Not you too At-chan!"

The whole group broke into a fit of laughter, and Midorima can't help but to laugh with them.

"Ah…spending time in the cake shop can be very good once in awhile." Kise heaved a relief sigh, crossing her arms behind her head.

"It's better than the convenience store." Murasakibara commented.

"Well, we can spend time here every weekend," Akashi's voice trailed in a professional manner, crossing her legs gracefully. "My treat."

Kuroko shook her head furiously. "We can take turns!"

Suddenly, Aomine clicked her fingers as if the most brilliant idea in the world had crossed her mind. "I have an idea! Let's take turns by the color of our hair! So next week, Kise will treat, followed by Midorima, me, Tet-chan and Atsushi!"

Hearing Aomine's idea, Kise clapped her hands in excitement. "That's a good idea!"

Midorima nodded lightly. "Approved."

After two rounds of cakes later, the girls strolled out of the cake shop and started discussing where to go next while Akashi was frowning at the bill. Her friends would pay by the number of laps she would give them on Monday.

"Hey guys! Let's go shopping!" Kise turned to her friends, skipping in excitement.

"Yeah! Let's buy some new bras for you!" Aomine agreed offhandedly as she pinched Kise's cheeks.

"New snacks on sale today!" Murasakibara suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere.

Midorima shook her head disapprovingly as she straightened her glasses. "We have enough for today. Please refrain from spending more money than we already do."

"Shin-chan, you're not fun!" Kise pouted, frowning. "We need to replace those long skirt of yours to something shorter."

Midorima flashed a petulant look to the long skirt under her waist and scowled. "Don't decide my dress code on your own."

Aomine snickered. "But Shin-chan, you have long legs you know. That's _sexy._"

"Yeah, her boyfriend is gonna be a lucky guy!" Kise agreed and chuckled giddily. "Long legs, big boobs, smart and cute! That's a good package you know!"

"But he need to deal with her tsundereness!" Aomine added and broke into laughter together with Kise.

Everyone sweat dropped. It was this kind of conversation that made Aomine and Kise could get along.

So the girls headed to the closest mall and walked in to every clothing shop they passed through (to Kise's pleasure) and sometimes, lingerie boutique, by Aomine's recommendation.

Suddenly, Kise's sharp eyes spotted their captain, Nijimura, walked on the distance. The blonde turned to her friends and a mischievous look passed across her face.

"Let's greet him! I'm sure he would love his own _harem_!"

Aomine agreed immediately. Kuroko just laughed by the response. Midorima heaved a tired sigh. Akashi nodded. Murasakibara would just followed them what they wanted to do.

"_Sensei~~!"_ the six girls yelled, rushing towards Nijimura, whose face slowly turned pale as if a horde of fangirls chase the life out of him.

Even though Midorima thought today was a little bit too much for her, she believed today was the best day ever.

They were not champions or miracles, they were just girls.

Or that's what she believed before everything falls apart.


	5. Ch5: Memoria

**THANK YOU for all the reviews! I appreciate it! **

**I had rewritten this chapter for four times because I'm a little bit traumatic with the bullying/ gossip subject. Midorima may be a little bit OOC here, but every strong girl will feel like this even if she was in Midorima's place.**

**You guys can send me some OC'S I can use in my story :D but please no mary sues or overboard ones.**

**Please R&amp;R ^^Reviews are well appreciated!**

* * *

"_Takao-senpai!"_

"_You're so cool!"_

"_Takao-kun!"_

"_Kyaa! He's so handsome!"_

The endless loud murmurs of Shutoku's Takao Squad roared from the other side of the court, and if Coach Nikitani was absent today, Miyaji would already started yelling and screaming to throw pineapples at them.

As usual, the hawk-eyed winked and grinned at the fangirls as he dribbled the ball with triumph, which caused an explosive squeals and yells from the female population as if they were in the middle of a fanmeeting.

Ootsubo, the center player, flashed a petulant look at the crowd. Miyaji occasionally grounded his teeth, disgusted.

"Hmph. That idiot," Miyaji said, nudged his head towards Takao's direction. "He is too ahead of himself."

"Sshh! Keep it down, Miyaji!" Kimura hissed, frowning. "We are in the middle of the match!"

As the interminable sounds of dribbling ball and squeaking sneakers swept around the room—paired up by fangirling squeals—the Shutoku's practice match flowed like their usual pace.

Midorima was already accustomed to her position quick; shooting guard, just like the old days. She was the only one in the room that was unaffected by fangirls' distracting screaming. As the others constantly paused to glare at the female population (grinning, in Takao's case) Midorima never lose her pace. She bent her body to a kneeling position, released the ball from her delicate fingers, and let it passed through the ring in a speed of light. Some of the girls went '_Ooh!_' and _'Ah'_ at Midorima's unfazed shooting.

'_Is that Midorima Shintaro?'_

Midorima paused for a moment, bothered by their path of conversation. Intrigued or bothered, Midorima couldn't tell. Her feet stiffened.

'_She is part of the 'Generations of Miracles!'_

'_Seriously? You mean that invincible basketball team?'_

'_They are monsters! Ew!'_

Midorima gulped, pedaling her rigid feet, but every ounce of her muscle turned jelly as the girls' gossip slowly invading her senses.

'_I heard Shintaro is the least womanly out of the six!'_

'_Yeah, she's not a human! Who can shoot that far?'_

'_Sshh! She can hear us!'_

Midorima gulped, pursing her lips into a tight line. She wiped the bead of sweat trickling her forehead before she dribbled the ball to the other side of the court. Her back faced against the fangirls.

Takao noticed the fangirls attention had shifted into Midorima. He sighed inwardly— relieved— but at the same time, an unfamiliar ache choked him as Midorima's name flew quickly among the crowd, as if a switch had been activated.

"Shin-chan…" Takao mumbled, frowning. "I wonder if she's all right."

Midorima's steady footsteps echoed in the room as she sprinted to the farthest point of the court. It was shooting time. She relaxed her nerves, bent her feet, and released the ball from her fingers, until…

'_Look at that! What a show off!'_

'_Oi, she's going to shoot from that far?'_

'_She's inhuman!'_

Midorima flinched. She tried to hide the inner turmoil inside her head as she putted on her usual deadpanned face. She tried to regain her attention on the floating ball in midair; slowly making it's way to the ring.

_Tang!_

Midorima missed.

A collective gasps came from the crowd, paired up by bloodshot eyes and jaw droppings from her teammates. Midorima never missed her shots—not in Teiko, nor the last fifty-seven shots from the last ten minutes.

Midorima limped to the ring under and fetched the ball. As all eyes in the room were fired to her, Midorima dribbled the ball to another faraway position and performed her shoot again.

She missed.

Again and again, she performed it again.

She missed.

And she kept repeating it.

She missed again.

This time Midorima cursed, her unfazed expression crumbled. She looked torn as she tried to get the ball to perform the shoot again. Nobody said or did anything; they simply watched Midorima, mouth opened.

Takao's frown deepened. "Shin-chan…"

The male was about to approach her, but Miyaji tapped him on the shoulders, shaking his head and mumbled a low 'No.'

Midorima panted, her knees buckled. She coughed as sweat ran down her face.

"What the heck happened to me? I shouldn't listen. I get used to this." Midorima muttered under her breath, pedaling her muscles to the other side of the court. "That's right, Oha-asa says it's my unlucky day."

Finally, she got her hands on the ball. She never questioned her frozen teammates. Midorima took a deep breath. Her composed expression returned. Heaving one last breath, Midorima bent to her shooting position, and before she released the ball, a voice rang inside her head.

'_That's because you're never like a girl, Shintaro!' a loud sob erupted from the pigtail-haired's girl throat._

Midorima's eyes flew wide, her voice trembles shakily. _"Sei-chan…."_

This time Midorima's ball never flew to the ring; it flew to the other side of the court, hitting one of the fangirls.

_Bam!_

A chestnut haired girl flew from her seat, her body rolled to the court. A tiny ribbon of blood gushed from the corner of her head. She moaned and groaned in agony as her friends and some basketball mates gathered around her.

"Yui!" a short, blonde haired girl ran to her best friend, sobbing on her chest. "Are you okay?"

Yui squinted, looking up at her best friend. "Aya-chan…"

"Somebody get some medications!" Coach Nikitani barked, and his students promptly dispersed themselves and hurried to the storage room.

Midorima's lips parted as she slowly slipped herself into the crowd. As her eyes fell upon the blood trickling on Yui's head, an image drifted into her mind.

'_A-A-At-chan…How dare you.' Akashi's hands and legs sprawled on the floor. Blue-purple bruises stained her delicate, pale skin._

Midorima quickly snapped out of her reverie as she raised her voice. "Excuse me coach! I will take this girl to the infirmary!"

With her remaining strength, Midorima carried Yui in her arms with ease and disappeared to the clinic, feeling humiliated than ever before.

She didn't care the girls' voices haunting her head; she just wanted to bring Yui to safety before she repeated the same mistake.

* * *

After cutting the excessive bandage from Yui's head, Midorima took a deep sigh, wiping the sweat from her temples.

"I-I-I'm sorry." Midorima stammered, slightly turning away from Yui, who was now staring at her. "I don't mean to do that really. I was just…spacing out."

Yui didn't answer. Her gaze bored on Midorima, lips pursed into a tight line.

Midorima gritted her teeth, nervousness building up inside her. "I know that I don't behave like a girl and all…and I'm a freak…but…"

Midorima stifled, parting her lips. _Huh? What am I saying?_

Finally, they were accompanied by silence.

Midorima, head down, sunk her nails into her skirt, gripping it tightly that caused some unfriendly wrinkles on the material. Her eyes fixed on Yui's shoes, guilt trampled on her like a runaway cart. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting herself being eaten by the darkness.

Suddenly, a timid, soft laugh melted their silence. It was Yui.

"I know you're thinking like that, Midorima-san." Yui's voice trailed like the whisper of angel. "I forgive you."

This time, Midorima's jaw dropped. The green-haired female rubbed her knees together, heat travelled to her ears.

"I-I'm sorry!" Midorima stammered, scratching her chin in frustration. "I'm really, really sorry!"

Yui seemed to be taken aback by Midorima's demeanor as the chestnut haired girl raised her arms defensively, shaking her head. "No! I should be the one to apologize!" Yui zipped her eyes shut, bouncing her fist in the air. "If I could ask my friends to shut up, I know none of these things would happen!"

Midorima's paused, a torn expression flashed across her face. She fixed her glasses and stifled when she noticed her lenses were slightly foggy. Had she been crying? Yui, who noticed, had a sympathetic look on her face.

"I think they are right." Midorima forced out a smile. "I don't mind being called names though. All my friends from middle school said the same thing. Nah, people called us like that if we're part of the 'Miracles'…."

Midorima's voice was followed by silence. Yui's eyes gradually widened, hot tears started bubbling on her eyes. Noticing, Midorima panicked. She reached her arms towards the poor girl, but she was afraid one careless touch could broke the fragile girls into pieces.

Yui finally roared tearfully. "No! You're wrong!" Yui sniffed, flowing snots. "I always admired the MiraGen! I wish I could be one of them! My sister and I are a big fan of GoM!"

"Your sister?"

"Misaki Sachika is my sister!" Yui replied, wiping the tears from her eyes. "My name is Misaki Yui!"

Hearing the familiar name, a light smile appeared on Midorima's lips. "Ah, you're the class prez's sister."

Yui nodded, happiness slowly brimmed her face. "Yes! I'm so glad I could meet you in person, Midorima-san!"

"Um…thank you?"

Suddenly, the door of the infirmary slid opened and Sachika rushed in to the room, panicked. When her eyes fell upon Yui, the shoulder length haired girl hopped on to her sister, stroking Yui's shoulders gingerly.

"Yui!" tears ran down Sachika's face. "I heard you're injured! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sis!" Yui looked up to her sister, smiling brightly. "Midorima-nee takes care of me!"

Sachika's hazel eyes twinkled, and the class prez turned to Midorima, whose expression was slapped with bewilderment and confusion.

"Thanks a lot, Midorima-san!" Sachika bowed deeply.

Midorima smiled, rubbing her cheeks sheepishly. "Umm…I'm the one who injured her in the first place…"

"I don't care, but thank you!" Sachika stammered, deepening her bow.

Midorima and Yui sweat dropped.

In the middle of the stiff silence, Takao strolled in the room, laughing good-naturedly. "Well it seems like all ends well!" the hawk-eyed grinned ear to ear, winking at Sachika and Yui before turning to Midorima. "It's all thanks to Shin-chan!"

Hearing Takao's comment, warm heat travelled into Midorima's cheeks. The four-eyed girl slapped her hands against her mouth. "Shut up, Bakao!"

"Come on Shin-chan! Admit your victory!" Takao slapped the girl on the shoulders and guffawed.

Midorima fiddled her skirt, blushing.

Yui and Sachika shared a gasps, switched glances, and chuckled giddily to themselves. The sisters nodded, smirking.

"Now I know why Takao will never notices us." Yui said, a little bit downhearted, clutching Sachika's hand tightly. Sachika squeezed her hands in return, forcing out a smile.

After the sisters bid their goodbyes, Takao and Midorima left the infirmary and walked home together. That was before they got an earful scold from their dear, pineapple obsessed Miyaji-senpai.

* * *

The once blue sky had been dipped into orange caramel by the time the couple left the school grounds

Takao constantly yawned, stretching his arms. Midorima's gaze fixed on her feet most of the time, pinching her lips tightly.

Midorima stared at the back of Takao's head, wondering why the Takao wasn't the obnoxious person he was today. After fixing her glasses, Midorima spoke up.

"Why are you so quiet today?" she quizzed. "Did the practice tire you out? If it does, you're still far to be a sports master, Takao."

Takao halted, his shoulders stiffened. His chest rise and fall, and Midorima knew Takao had been holding his ground ever since they departed from the campus.

Finally, the hawk eyed turned towards the four-eyed girl, forcing out his grin. "Did those girls hurt you?"

Midorima's lips parted, then shut again. She shook her head lightly. "No."

"You're a horrible liar, Shin-chan." Takao said, eyes fastened on Midorima, who was playing around with her nails.

Hearing Takao's offhanded comment, the green-haired female lunged towards him, yanking him by the collar. Takao staggered, jaw dropped. He flailed his arms hopelessly. "What the heck, Shin-chan? Why are you so angry?"

"You don't have to stand up for me." Midorima replied flatly, straightening her glasses. "It's disgusting."

"I send those girls away! They will never come back again for you!" Takao was now yelling, his eyes blazed with fury and concern. "I don't accept it if they treated you that way!"

Midorima yelped, stunned. Her fingers slowly plucking away from Takao's shirt, swaying her hands to the side. She tilted her head downward, and to Takao's bewilderment, squeezing his hands. "I-I-I'm not used to be protected."

The anger in Takao's eyes faded. A loud laughter bubbled up on hjs lips. He squeezed her hands back, locking their fingers together. "Hmph! You should be more honest with your feelings, Shin-chan!" Takao gave her a toothy grin. "I protect you because I want to, okay?"

"Damn Scorpios." Midorima mumbled, avoiding Takao's eyes.

Takao laughed good-naturedly in response. Midorima can't help but to chuckle alongside him.

Takao's eyes fell upon Midorima's laughing face for the first time, and finally, he smiled.

Suddenly, Midorima yanked her arms away from him, as if she was turned off by the affection. Takao frowned, pouting. "Shin-chan! I thought we could have a very blissful time together today!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, dumbass." Midorima said, hiding her blush. "I-I-I want to go somewhere today."

"Oh! Where are you going?" Takao's eyes lit up, curious.

"To get my lucky item. It's a strawberry shortcake."

"It's a food?" Takao craned his head.

Midorima nodded. "Coincidentally, Scorpio's lucky item for today is a chocolate soufflé. So let us stop by the cake shop to increase our fortune."

Takao laughed out loud, gripping his stomach. "Liar Shin-chan! Scorpio's lucky item for today is a shoelace!"

Midorima stunned, yelped. She grounded her teeth in embarassment and growled. "How do you know?"

Takao pulled out his phone and showed the app currently running in his device. "I download Oha-Asa too!" Takao grinned with triumph. "Just say you want to have a cake with me Shin-chan. Don't be shy!"

"Hmph!" Midorima huffed and quickened her pace. Takao chuckled before he hurried up to keep up with her fast stride.

A few minutes later, the couple stopped by a cake shop near to the station. Takao whistled as he leaned his hand behind his head, scrutinizing the shop's external features.

"Man! You know the cakes here aren't cheap right?"

A sad smile pulled up on the corner of Midorima's lips. "I used to come here with my friends during middle school." Her eyes went distant, reminiscing the old times from the past. "The cakes here are very nice. We always take turns for treat."

Takao's lips parted. "Is it the Generations of Miracles?"

Midorima nodded, clutching her bag tightly. "Yes."

"I see…" Takao replied, not wanting to ask more.

Midorima shrugged. "Anyway, enough for the pity party. Let's eat. My treat." She said as she slipped her way through the entrance. Takao tailed behind her.

Takao kept protesting he should be the one who treat, but Midorima insisted. The moment the couple walked in the little café, Midorima's eyes flew wide when her gaze fell upon a familiar blonde, sitting with a dark-haired male.

The blonde was sipping her cup of tea before her eyes widened, realizing the presence of the four-eyed girl. She slammed her cup against the table, gaping. The male before her winced, looked shocked by her sudden gesture.

"S-S-Shincchi." The blonde mustered out her words, her fingers stretched outwards like the twigs of a tree.

"Ryo-chan," Midorima frowned. "It's been awhile."

Before them, it was the ace of the Kaijo High, known for her popularity and immense beauty, Kise Ryota.


	6. Ch6: Cakes, Plushes and Boys and Boys

**a/n= Thank you for all the reviews and ratings! I appreciated it!**

**So happy valentines day guys! Sorry if this chapter will be a full of lovely fluff to burn you 'forever aloners' out there! Don't worry, if you're reading this right now, probably you're single too ;_; like me lolol**

**So reviews are very well appreciated! HAPPY READING!**

* * *

It was the most awkward silence Takao had ever experienced.

A raven-haired guy with an indignant expression sat across Takao, who was nibbling his chocolate cake in boredom. Beside him was the Kaijo's ace Kise Ryota, constantly humming and singing some random song nobody knew. Finally, beside Takao was his precious rival-and-ace Shin-chan, sipping a cup of chamomile tea silently.

Known for his social demeanor, Takao decided he would be the first one to melt this stupid silence. He spoke merrily. "So you guys came from Kaijo high huh?"

Kise blinked before her lips pulled up a playful grin. "Yes we are boy! We came all the way to Tokyo to accept an invitation for a special training! We are so generous, right senpai?"

The cheery blonde elbowed the raven-haired beside her, winking. The boy flashed her a petulant look in return. "It's all your fault, brainless model!"

"But the practice just now was so fun, Kasamatsu-senpai!" Kise whined, bouncing her ponytail. "It's been awhile someone beat us before!"

Midorima's brows arched, looking interested. Her voice trailed with superstitious interest. "You guys lose? What happen to the powerhouse Kaijo?"

Kise let out a girly shriek and slammed her head against the table, rubbing her head against the surface while muffling and mumbling something incoherent. "Noo! Shin-chi is always so blunt and everything! It hurts my heart so much! It's painful! It's frustrating, oh the pain!"

Midorima's eyes bored on Kise as if she had gotten used to this. Takao's cheeks inflated, trying to hold in his laughter—whether it was because the Kaijo's ace was an unbelievable airhead or Kise calling Midorima "Shin-chi".

Before Kise could regain her composure, Kasamatsu straightened his shoulders as he spoke. "We lose against Seirin." Kasamatsu leaned his chin against his hands, staring down at his half-finished cake. "We never expect a common team like them will beat us."

"I believe it's not a coincidence." Kise inputted, suddenly sober again.

"Yeah, it's not." Kasamatsu nodded in agreement, for once speaking to the blonde normally. "I mean, one of your friends is there right? With their new ace."

Kise's high-pitched shriek returned again as the blonde pumped her fist in anticipation. "Ace? Ace? I can recall he is Kurokocchi's boyfriend! He is so big and rude! I don't want an ape like him to taint my little Kurokocchi!"

A smug smile hooked on Midorima's lips. Her eyes behind her glasses glowed with interest. "I know she is in Seirin but, do you say Kuroko has a boyfriend?"

"Yes Shin-chi!" Kise was now screaming, and they received some incredulous stares from the other guests in the café. She continued though. "He is tall, red-haired and brute! He's like the male version of Sei-chi. Their difference that he was taller, fatter and uglier!"

Midorima squinted her eyes in irritation, trying to trap Kise's loud buzzing from her ears. "What about you? Is the guy beside you your boyfriend?"

Kise paused, her lips parting. A faint shade of red brushed her cheeks, but before she could answer, Kasamatsu's brazen voice piped up beside her.

"Like hell I'm dating this loud and arrogant ace." Kasamatsu said in disgust, crossing his arms. "She has a dozen of fanboys to choose from!"

The redness from Kise's face faded instantly. The blonde jerked up from her seat and to Takao and Midorima's bewilderment, her hands flew towards Kasamatsu's cheeks, slapping him on the face.

"_Senpai! You are so stupid! How can you say something like that?"_

"_You're the one who should chill down drama queen!"_

"_I hate you!"_

"_I hate you twice more!"_

"_I hate you thrice more!"_

"_I hate you one hundred million more!"_

"_I hate you a zillion more!"_

"There is no such word as 'zillion' dumbass." Kasamatsu spat, but his voice was calm.

"Ah, really?" Kise gaped, dumbfounded.

Midorima and Takao sweat dropped, slowly getting overwhelmed by the eccentric couple. Deep down, Takao prayed for the blessing for the Kaijo's coach to handle such husband-and-wife spat every single day in their practice.

After the storm of the quarrel spat subsided, silence quickly fell over the little group again. Midorima just finished her cup of tea and was about to order another one. Takao did the same. When the two teenagers called the waiter simultaneously, they switched glances and blushed, biting their lip.

"Y…You order first, Shin-chan." Takao grinned sheepishly.

"I'm not that thirsty Takao." She replied curtly, facing away from the hawk-eyed.

Kise's eyebrows raised and cooed. "Hmm…" she hummed, playing her fingers. "I smell love is in the air!"

Midorima exhaled sharply as she straightened her glasses. "T-There is no such thing between us, Ryo-chan."

"Lies, lies!" Kise stuck her tongue out, winking naughtily at the early bloomers. "Right Dai-cha—Oh yeah! Daiki isn't with us anymore, hahahaha!"

Kise's forced laugh heated up the tense in their table. Slowly, the glow on Kise's eyes dimmed, like a light that lost it's fuse. A neat line pulled up on Midorima's lips as she fixed her eyes on the remaining tealeaves swimming at the bottom of her cup.

Takao stole a glance to Kasamatsu, who nodded, understanding the situation without a word. Everyone who lives in the basketball world knew the relationship of the Generations of Miracles—from the moment they were born and when they fell apart. Some of them rejoiced for Miragen's dismissal.

Takao used to be one of them. But now that he had a member from Miragen on his side—whom he had mixed feelings for—his view of the Miragen changed a bit since he met one.

_They're not champions…they are just…_

"Girls." Kasamatsu suddenly said it out loud, which he received stares from everyone on the table. He ignored the girls and spoke directly to Takao. "Am I right, Takao?"

Takao, blinked, stunned at the captain's intellectual mind reading. Was he thinking the same thing?

"Hmm." Takao hummed, nodded.

Kise and Midorima traded suspicious glances and shook their head. As the next round of desserts lay out on their table, Takao and Kasamatsu started being talkative with one another, discussing about their roles as a point guard, which was the one thing they had in common.

Midorima and Kise do traded a few conversations with one another, but of course, it wasn't as flamboyant as when they were in Teiko. Back then with At-chan, Dai-chan, Tet-chan, and Sei-chan involved, the girls could talk nonstop for hours.

When the girls were having a lively conversation about lucky item, Kise suddenly fidgeted her fingers, as if she was holding something back. Midorima noticed the tiny demeanor and pointed out promptly.

"What's wrong, Ryota?"

Kise clasped her hands to her lips. After a moment of hesitation, she finally stammered.

"I-I missed having these kinds of conversations." Kise slightly turned her head away, blushing. "And Shin-chan, for the thing in Teiko….I'm sorry."

"Eh?" Midorima yelped, stunned.

"You're the second person I have apologized today!" Kise beamed shyly. "Tet-chan is the first. Honestly after meeting Tei-chan in Seirin, I'm starting to think that…it's my fault that Miragen fall apart you know."

Midorima's eyes widened, trying to register Kise's words. Now, the boys had gone quiet, picking interest in their topic. Midorima was silent as she hid her expression behind her lens.

"It's all of us," Midorima finally admitted, her voice on the verge of tears.

"Shin-chan!" Takao exclaimed, jerking on his seat to comfort her.

"I'm fine, flea." Midorima's voice returned to normal, as if a switch had been flipped.

"I want to see your dere side!" Takao whined, pouting. "Come on! Shin-chan~!"

Kise's pained expression melted as she leaned closer to her senpai and whispered. "He is casually addressing Shin-chi as Shin-chan."

"Hmm." Kasamatsu nodded, smiling.

"And Shin-chi seems to be cool about it." Kise continued, keeping her urge to scream.

"They are more than friends." Kasamatsu inputted.

"Agreed." Kise nodded.

"What are you guys whispering about, husband and wife?" Takao suddenly hovered over them, giving them a toothy grin.

Kise and Kasamatsu shrieked at the same time as Takao invaded their personal space.

* * *

After paying the bill, the group walked out of the café together. The sky was getting dark, and Midorima was about to walk home before Kise's hand yanked her back. Midorima staggered, losing her balance. After that, she folded her arms, said crossly. "What do you want again, Ryo-chan?"

"You never change Shin-chhi!" Kise guffawed. "Let's stop by the arcade!"

"Huh?!"

"Come on Shin-chi!" Kise whined, pulling Midorima by the arms. "Come on!"

"No! It's already too late for that!" Midorima protested, fixing her glasses. "And I have a test tomorrow, so I need to go home earlier to prepare."

"We don't have a test, Shin-chan!" Takao's voice piped up brightly from the corner.

"Damn you Takao!" Midorima scowled.

"Man, give your girlfriend a break." Kasamatsu gave Takao a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Midorima groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Shin-chan, you're red!" Takao exclaimed, snickering.

"Yeah! Did you get a fever, Shin-chi?" Kise asked teasingly.

"Everybody shut up!" Midorima raised her voice.

"Hahahahaha!" the rest of them laughed out loud as Midorima pondered on her own misery.

* * *

They really ended up at an arcade.

Takao and Kise were skipping around as if they were dancing. Kasamatsu kept ushering them to keep down their voices like a father babysitting his kids. Midorima's frown never faltered as she hugged her arms tight, obviously unhappy.

"We only have ten minutes." Kasamatsu declared, looking at his wristwatch. "We need to play something quick. Tomorrow is training."

"Then why are we here in the first place?!" Midorima protested.

"Just ten minutes of fun won't hurt, Shin-chi." Kise said as she approached the closest crane game. "Hey guys! Let's play this thing!"

Takao exclaimed and zoomed towards the machine giddily. "Ooh! A crane game! It's been awhile I've played one!"

"In the evening it's always crowded," Kasamatsu added, now smiling. "So I think it's a good time for us to play this thing right now."

Kise plastered her face against the glass, mumbling. "There is still so many of them! They are all so cute!"

Midorima's eyes widened when her eyes fell upon the Kerosuke plush stacked in the middle of the soft toys inside the crane box. She turned her head away, trying not to get affected.

"Senpai, can you play for me?" Kise fluttered her eyelids, grabbing Kasamatsu by the arm.

Kasamatsu clicked his tongue, running his hand through his hair in irritation. "What do you want now? You wasted my monthly salary over three lemon soft cakes just now!"

"Please…." Kise whined, now frowning. "I want one Yukio-chi!"

"Yukio-chi?" Kasamatsu roared, looked taken aback. A myriad shade of red highlighted his cheeks.

"I will practice twice harder tomorrow!" Kise saluted, twirling on the spot. "You can even spank me as a punishment!"

"Shut up! Don't say that dumb blonde!" Kasamatsu growled. "Fine, fine. I will get one for you. Which one do you want?"

"Anything from Yukio-chi is precious for me!" Kise said, smiling.

Kasamatsu froze, as if time had stopped. He stared at Kise with surprised eyes before inserting two one hundred yen coins into the crane machine.

The first attempt failed, but the second time Kasamatsu was about to pull out monkey plush before the timer ran out. The picked up monkey mercilessly fall back into the doll stack.

"All right then Yukio-chi! It's alright!" Kise finally said, pulling Kasamatsu's arms. "Ten minutes had passed, let's go home!"

"Not yet!" Kasamatsu snapped at her. "Just…one more time!"

Kasamatsu inserted another two one-hundred-yen coins as he sharpened his concentration, as if he was in the zone. His hand pummeled against the controller with care, and to everyone's surprise, Kasamatsu finally pulled out a small, lion plushie and managed to take it out from the box.

"S..Senpai…" Kise stammered, an awe expression struck her face.

Kasamatsu grunted, tossing the lion doll to Kise, who caught it in her arms. "Tomorrow you owe me three extra laps."

Kise's eyes widened, tears bubbled up on her eyes. She nuzzled her face against the lion doll fondly. "Thank you, senpai!"

Kasamatsu, for the first time, grinned at the blonde.

Takao watched the scene while trying to hide his laughter.

"All right then, let's go home." Kasamatsu declared.

"Wait!" Takao exclaimed. "Can you give me a moment?"

"Oh yeah right, you haven't get a present for your girlfriend." Kasamatsu said flatly.

"She's the ace!" Takao yelled, hiding the blush on his cheeks.

Midorima blinked as Takao swaggered towards the crane game. After inserting two coins, Takao's fingers stroke the controllers with ease, and in just one single try, he was able to pull out a doll.

"Wow!" Kasamatsu gasped. "You're good at this!"

"Thanks to my sister!" Takao grinned at him as he kneeled down and pulled out a Kerosuke doll from the tray.

A gasp of awe came from Midorima. "K-K-Kerosuke…"

Takao approached the green-haired girl and offered the green frog to his ace. "Well, the last time I visit your house, you have a female Kerosuke doll lying in your room, right?"

"You remember?" Midorima yelped, stunned by Takao's sharp memory.

"I think she's a bit lonely by herself." Takao flashed her a grin. "So please give her a friend! It's a male by the way!"

Midorima gingerly took the male Kerosuke, as if it was a holy sacred item. She grabbed it in her arms, slowly embracing it closer to her.

"I appreciate your gratitude, Takao."

"Just say thank you, Shin-chan!"

"It's not like I'm grateful or anything." Midorima shifted her eyes away from Takao. "My room has too many dolls, so this one would be troublesome."

"So you don't want that?" Takao asked, still smiling.

"Well, for Kero-chan's sake at home, I will take him with me." Midorima's frown deepened, biting her lips.

Kasamatsu and Kise shared a chuckle before they bid their goodbyes towards the couple.

When the Kaijo's members' footsteps retreated, Takao and Midorima headed home.

On the way home, as usual, Takao was talking Midorima's ears off with random topics such as Miyaji or Sachika, or his favorite anime TV show, but Midorima didn't hear him, for her head was too busy thinking of a suitable spot for the new Kerosuke that she would put beside her lonely, female frog plush.


	7. Ch7: Upside-Down

**a.n= Thank you for all the support guys! Sorry if this chapter will be a little bit long because a train of idea just came to my mind .-. can't help it!**

**Please R&amp;R! Tell me what you think, especially about Sachika if I can keep her longer in this story.**

**Reviews are appreciated ^^!**

* * *

"_Oha-asa daily is coming up next!"_

Midorima paused writing, her ears caught interest. She abandoned her opened textbook and skipped closer to the radio by the bed. Because of meeting with Kise earlier, Midorima was left with much homework and studying to do—after all, there would be a math quiz a few days later. She looked at the clock and grimaced by the unfriendly hour; it's already one-thirty for goodness sake, and judging from the darkness from next door, the Midorima presumed her dearest slave had abandoned all his schoolwork.

Midorima wasn't surprised.

But oh well, Oha-asa is coming up next in her radio to snap her boredom; it's unusual for Midorima to stayed up late to check Oha-Asa the moment it aired. Usually, she would just check her phone on the next day.

As Midorima chewed the edge of her lucky pencil, a high-pitched, female voice blared out of the radio.

"_February 21. First place today is, Aquarius! Congratulations! To boost your luckiness, your lucky item is…"_

Midorima exhaled slowly as she collapsed to her bed, her weight slightly bounced up against the sheet.

"Why…" she mumbled incoherently, nuzzling her face against the male Kerosuke planted beside her pillow. After a moment of realization, she sent the green plush across the wall, blushing and grumbling something about _'I grab the male Kerosuke by mistake, nano-dayo' _or something along the line that would be a good laugh to the idiot she knew.

"_Cancer is the second place today! Congratulations!"_

"Well, at least I am still in second!" Midorima chided to no one in particular.

"_Your lucky item for today is a hairband!"_

"What?" the green-haired jerked to a sitting position, causing her muscles to ache. "Oh well, I can't help it."

She hopped from her bed and sauntered towards her vanity desk. After planting herself comfortably on the chair nearby, she slowly pulled out the cabinet and fished for a red hairband hiding under the sea of hairpins she had received from her sister and Kise. She smiled by the thought.

Midorima peered the scarlet hairband grasped firmly between her fingers. After staring at it longingly, she slowly slid the hairband behind her ears before tucking the hem of her green strands behind the latter.

Finally, she let herself met the mirror.

Midorima stifled a gasp; she looked beautiful.

A small smile plastered her lips as she fiddled with her hair into a messy curl, blushing and grinning to herself like how Murasakibara found an expensive snack on the sales counter. The face of the toothy grin Takao flashed across her mind, and his cheery and upbeat voice rang to the ends of her ears—little, she wondered if Takao would find her in a hairband cute…

…

"No, don't be stupid Shintaro!" Midorima spat, yanking the red hairband from her hair and slammed it against the vanity table violently. "It's just a lucky item, it's not like I'm dressing up for him!"

As Midorima huffed and panted over her fuming anger, Oha-Asa continued on the background.

"_Unfortunately, Scorpio is in the last place today!"_

"Oh yes, he's a parasite." Midorima chuckled grimly to herself.

"_Be careful for Scorpio! You may encounter some unwanted accidents on your way to school or work! We suggest that you should be more careful when going outside!"_

"Then I'm not going to school with him or else my cart will get crash by a bus." Midorima mumbled sleepily, switched off the radio and tossed herself beneath the sheets, forgetting all about the homework and chores. Well, she could deal with them tomorrow.

* * *

The next day:

"_Shin-chan~!" _Takao chirped merrily as he emerged out of the house next door, waving at the four-eyed girl, who was glaring at him.

"Takao," She commanded, crossing her arms. "Today let's not go to school together."

Takao's bright expression dimmed, a sad smile formed on his lips. "Why Shin-chan?" Takao's voice remained cheery, despite the ache of betrayal itching his heart. "Here, let me get the cart! I still want to train my muscles you know!"

"I don't want to." Midorima said firmly, pinching her lips together.

Takao's smile promptly turned to a scowl. He clenched his hands into fist, frustration boiled in his core. After biting his lips, Takao finally blurted out.

"I really don't get you!" his voice was unusually hostile. "In one situation you want me to do this, then you want me to do that! How exactly am I supposed to do to keep you satisfied, Midorima?"

Midorima stifled a gasp, looked taken aback by Takao's sudden coldness and the way he address her with such honorific. After fixing her glasses, Midorima gritted her teeth and replied him with the similar tone.

"Nobody asks you to keep me satisfied." Midorima said with an aloof tone while avoiding Takao's conflicted gaze. "Also, I rather you stay at home today."

"Is that how much you didn't want to see me?" Takao replied indifferently, hunching his shoulders.

Midorima shook her head inwardly. She _really _wanted Takao to drag her to school like usual, but the thought of plunging into demise halted Midorima from doing so. The best solution was to convince Takao stayed at home, and Midorima was smart enough that Takao was too stubborn to skip a day without basketball.

"Yes, I don't want to see you." Midorima tried to keep her voice from cracking. "From now on, stop trying to be my slave or whatever. You have gained my attention enough, and somehow, I'm getting tired of it."

Midorima blinked, her lips slightly trembled. _This was not what I want to say!_

They shared the next minute in silence.

A few moments later, Takao got nerved up by the muteness and to Midorima's dismay, slammed his fist against the wall.

"I had enough." Takao mumbled under his breath. "If that's what you want, then fine! I won't disturb you or call you 'Shin-chan' anymore! You have no idea how much I…"

Takao's feet met the ground, eyes on his shoes. He slowly exhaled before small tears ran down his face, trickling down from his chin to the ground with a small 'plop'.

Midorima's eyes widened, agonized. Her hands instinctively reached up towards Takao's shoulders, but then Takao slapped her hands away, as if he was disgusted. For the moment, Midorima believed he was.

"I know you have a weird complex for speaking out your feelings and all." Takao jumped to his feet, still glowering at her. "But I wish I can end this more properly, Midorima."

With that response, Takao trudged his way to school while cursing, leaving Midorima behind in the dust.

_What am I doing? Why do I say those mean things to her? It's Shin-chan!_

Takao complained to himself for the umpteenth time as he advanced his footsteps, one step meant increasing his gap with the rival he had _cared_ for.

Takao huffed a tired sigh and walked to the other side, even though the path was longer, but at least the winding road was bearable than the painful ache hammering her ribs.

"Oh yeah, he haven't say anything about my hairband." Midorima mumbled sadly as she continued walking to school.

* * *

Midorima was surprised that she arrived first. Takao hasn't arrived yet, for the desk beside her seemed to be painfully empty. Midorima wondered if she could survived the whole term sitting beside her ex-friend she had opened up to, not to mention, the bullies. Midorima groaned by the thought; she had gotten used to this.

"Oi, Midorima."

Midorima blinked, surprised by the unfamiliar voice. When her eyes fell upon her senpai Miyaji Kiyoshi, she sighed in relief.

"What is it, senpai?"

"Where is Takao? I thought he always came with you."

"He's not with me today." Midorima shied her gaze away from Miyaji, not wanting to say more.

Miyoji stared at her longingly for a second before he heaved a tired, long sigh. "Did you lovebirds got into a fight?"

Midorima shifted uncomfortably in her seat, having the urge to pull out the rola headset from her bag. She grunted in response.

"I knew it!" Miyaji crossed his arms, giggling. "Too bad though, the hairband looks good on you, Midorima."

Midorima's eyes lit up as blood slowly travelled to her cheeks. "T-Thank you senpai, it's my lucky item."

"If you guys didn't fight, I bet Takao is going to sing-song about your hairband all day long even practice. Too bad, I need to request more pineapples from Kimura-san." Miyaji scratched his chin, looking thoughtful over this tiny issue.

"Wow! Someone is trying to pick Midorima-chan today when Takao isn't around!"

Midorima and Miyaji switched glances, shaking their head with confusion. Right before them, it's the bright and airhead class president, Sachika Misaki. Her long hair swayed back and forth, as if it was blown by the wind.

"Morning, class prez." Midorima greeted her with a blank stare.

"Come on, just call me Sachi-chan!" Sachika pouted, fluttering her eyelids.

Midorima stared at her with a peculiar look on her face. On the other hand, Miyaji elbowed the four-eyed girl, pointing at the class prez with disgust.

"Who is this? She is so ahead of herself."

"Sachika, she's Takao's friend." Midorima replied with a matter of fact tone.

"No wonder. They must be separated at birth." Miyaji sneered as he stole a glance to Sachika, who was now flashing him an '_I will cut your head and dislocate your bones_' glare.

"Who is this weirdo?" Sachika asked defensively, pointing straight at Miyaji. "Don't tell me he is your captain, Midorima?"

"Yeah hell I am!" Miyaji barked, gritting his teeth.

"Then Shuutoku is at loss for having a captain like a firecracker." Sachika said jokingly, flashing him a devious wink.

"This class is done for having a single-minded president like you." Miyaji countered smugly.

"Dare to say more, pudding head?"

"One more word and I'm going to throw you with a pineapple."

"Pineapple? Ugh…I'm allergic. Gross!"

As Sachika and Miyaji had their roundabout of arguments, Midorima shifted her gaze back to the empty seat beside her. Her eyes flew wide when Takao's desk remained empty. It was almost homeroom…

_Don't tell me…_

Finally, the homeroom teacher walked in, and his presence drowned out all the ongoing conversations in the classroom as the students quietly shuffled to their seats. Miyaji departed from class while Sachika flashed him bitter glare before leading the class with the morning greeting.

"_Stand up! Bow!"_

"_Good morning sensei!"_

The teacher smiled and the students collapsed into their seat. Instead of starting his class, the teacher fixed his glasses with a perplexed expression. Before anyone questioned him, the teacher's announcement confirmed their suspicions.

"Kaito-san found Kazunari lying on the street unconscious this morning," The teacher announced grimly. "Thankfully, he was able to call us on time so we could call his parents to fetch him home."

The whole class erupted to cries and questions as fangirls and Takao's friends crowded in together, blankly discussing about Takao's whereabouts. Midorima simply sat on her seat; her fingernails sunk deep her skin. She bit her lips hard, trying not to cry.

_It's my fault!_ Midorima rubbed her hair in frustration and froze when she felt the hairband on her head. _If I could just convince him properly and all…_

* * *

Midorima was about to escape from school during break before Sachika and Miyaji stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going? Skipping practice?" Miyaji roared.

"I know you're worried about Takao, we feel the same." Sachika said with a frown. "But I can't let you escape classes, Midorima-chan. I thought you really care about your grades."

Midorima blinked as realization slapped her on the face. Back on Teiko, Midorima would drown herself into thick-fat books and assignment papers in order to beat Akashi, who always beat her on exams even without studying. Her grades were top notch since elementary school.

"I..I…" Midorima stammered, gripping her skirt. "I really need to see Takao. I need to give him an earful of my opinion towards his stupid decision of going to school."

Silence. Miyaji and Sachika stared at Midorima as if she was a species from another planet.

"Don't tell me it's about the lucky items and Oha-Asa!" Sachika clasped her hands to her mouth, bewildered.

"Goddamit, so it's only about that!" Miyaji grabbed a fistful of his hair in frustration. "As far as I know, Takao is the only one who could cope with your shit!"

"Oha-Asa is not shit!" Midorima growled, offended.

Sachika nodded her head in agreement. "For once, I agree with pudding head. If you explain clearly about what you did based on horoscopes, I'm sure Takao would understand."

"Yeah, he got used to it after all!" Miyaji crossed his arms behind his head.

"Wait a minute!" Midorima cut them, now fidgeting her fingers. "I am actually…wondering about something."

Miyaji and Sachika raised their brows, and for once, they switched peculiar glances to one another before nodding towards Midorima's direction, ready to listen.

"Why does Takao care about me?" Midorima said slowly, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks. "From the first day of school, he keeps coming towards me that I think he is nothing but a nuisance. Yes he is a nuisance, but why does he have to go so far to get my attention like this?"

Sachika and Miyaji exhaled a long sigh and looked at each other with worried expression. Midorima tilted her head downwards, hiding the blush that was getting darker by every second.

"You should ask Takao. I think it's the most appropriate." Sachika smiled fondly at the perplexed four-eyed girl.

"Hm." Miyaji nodded, actually smiling. "We're not in the place to tell you something personal."

Midorima was quiet for a second. A few moments later, she nodded and fled off to her initial destination. Sachika and Miyaji watched the retreating figure with a smile.

"I don't know that Takao told you about her, _prez_." Miyaji said without looking at Sachika.

"I believe I have the right to know, pudding head." Sachika chided.

* * *

Midorima stood in front of the Takao dwelling. She peered at the address twice, thrice, afraid if she was going to the wrong house; Midorima cursed at herself; she never felt so nervous before.

Before Midorima could knock the door, the latter object suddenly flew open with a click. Midorima stifled, instinctively taking one step back. It was Takao's sister, Takao Kumiko. The short, raven-haired girl with identical, honey orbs like her brother rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. Midorima assumed she had been sleeping.

"Hello?" her voice trailed lazily—reminded Midorima of Murasakibara from Teiko—"Can I help you?"

Midorima was silent before she answered. "Um..ano…I want to meet your brother. I heard he passed out."

"Oh yeah, Kazu-nii passed out just now," Kumiko said matter of fact without the slightest hint of concern. "Could you perhaps, Midorima Shintaro-san?"

Midorima wanted to quizzed her where did she have that knowledge, but she could save that for another time. "Y-Yes!"

"Then please come in." Kumiko opened the door wider to let Midorima in. "My soon to be sister in law."

Midorima shook her head disapprovingly as she advanced through the little house. Kumiko leaded Midorima to the front door of Takao's room before she left to prepare some snacks.

After a moment of hesitation, Midorima clenched her hands into fist and hammered her tiny ball of fist to the door.

"T-Takao. It's me." Her voice trailed timidly.

She could hear rushing footsteps behind the door. "Shin-chan?"

Midorima's green eyes lit up when Takao called her old nickname. "Can I come in? I need to talk something."

Silence. She could hear Takao heaved a sigh, paired up by his slow, confused footsteps. Midorima counted one to ten, but by the sixth count, the door flew opened.

Takao was in his pajamas, his hair tousled. His usual, bright eyes were now tiny and dim, filled with nothing but exhaustion, but a small, genuine smile hooked up on the corners of his lips.

"Come in, Shin-cha—_woah_!"

Midorima threw her body into Takao's arms, clutching the hem of Takao's shirt like anchor. She nuzzled her face against Takao's chest and mumbled incoherently.

"Takao, I'm sorry!" her voice crackled into tears. "It's not like I don't want to see you or anything, it's not like I hate you or anything, I just heard from Oha-asa that Scorpio is in danger and and…it will be troublesome if you get out and get killed by an unknown factor or something…"

Takao was silent, his jaw dropped. Shin-chan. Now crying, begging and pleading for his forgiveness in tears; this was out beyond his expectation. The Shintaro he knew would be brazen, curt and cold, but now, the girl he had known was right here in his arms, sniffing and sobbing like an emotional, teenage woman.

Midorima didn't care. She was smart enough to know how much Takao hated her right now, and after this, Takao would push her away in disgust, sent her away out of his house, and she would be out of Takao's life forever. Midorima accepted that; she just wanted to ask for this moment to apologize to the person who had cared about her the most.

Takao slowly caressed Midorima's trembling head, smiling softly. "Sshh…" he whispered. "It's all right, Shin-chan. I should be the one apologizing. You're kind enough to be considerate about Scorpio!"

"But, but, I should have!" Midorima protested.

"I catch a cold just now, and then I checked Oha-Asa!" Takao's face broke into a toothy grin. "Damn right, I should have stayed at home just now! Thank you for worrying about me, Shin-chan!"

Midorima broke from the embrace and frowned at him. "I worried too much, I guess."

"Like you can say that with your tears," Takao guffawed while winking at her. "I should have recorded that 'Takao, I'm sorry, Takao I'm sorry _nanodayo_!' like that!"

Midorima crossed her arms and huffed, shifting her gaze away from Takao.

"By the way Takao, I have a question for you."

Takao craned his head to the side, curious. "Huh? Well let's talk inside, it would be better."

Midorima planted herself on Takao's bed. The room really smelled like him—like lilac blended with sweat. She tried to hide her blush. Takao, being the gentle man he was, sat cross legged on the floor.

So, Midorima recited the same question—blunt and straightforward this time—she had asked Miyaji and Sachika just now. Takao took a moment before he answered as he leaned his chin to his mouth, stroking his invisible beard underneath.

"Well." Takao said with a light smile. "I will be honest Shin-chan. From the beginning, I never have a good impression about you."

Despite the unfriendly beginning, Midorima leaned her head closer, getting engaged with his tale.

"In middle school, you, the miragen, defeated Shuutoku badly during one of the match."

"We beat everyone." Midorima frowned. "I don't exactly remember making many points. The aggressive ones were usually Dai-chan, At-chan and Aka-chan."

"Yeah, but during the match with Shuutoku, _you are the one_ who scored most of the points."

"How much, I don't recall." Midorima fixed her glasses.

"Teiko and Shuutoku: 130-60. You scored 70 of them. You crushed us, ran passed us like we're nothing but children on the field. You don't even passed the ball to your teammates. They were so furious."

….

_Ah, that game._ Midorima thought grimly.

"I am very angry with you at that time, but I'm not the one to talk. Back then, I was more like a bench warmer." Takao continued, now sitting beside Midorima. "But then seeing my teammates being crushed like insects, I can't help but like to bear a grudge on you. So I worked hard and get my position today as a starter."

"So it's all just a grudge?" Midorima asked with a hostile tone.

"Hear me out hon." Takao smiled teasingly. "So when you transfer in to Shuutoku, I was surprised. The one I swore to defeat was becoming my teammate. Since then, I want you to recognize me as your teammate!"

Midorima was silent for a moment. She felt her face heated up and her head thumping wildly against her chest. She really loathed this.

"Besides," Takao was now grinning as he slid one of Midorima's green locks behind his ears. "There is a thin line between love and hate you know."

Now, Midorima was convinced all the blood from her heart was being pumped up to he face. "S-S-Stupid! Stop saying weird things like that! We are still rivals, and I won't lose to you, Bakao!"

Takao was now laughing in a husky tone. Midorima wondered if Takao's fever had affected him like this. Suddenly, Midorima felt the world upside down. When she opened her eyes, Takao was above her, pinning her against the bed. He pressed her wrist tight that it hurts.

Midorima's eyes widened, alarmed by her situation. "T-Takao! Stop!"

Suddenly, Takao leaned his face closer to her. He traced his fingers along Midorima's cheekbones, cupping her chin. "Also, I also want you to surrender to me, Shin-chan. One day, you're going to give up and I will have instant victory. There is something more I want aside from your recognition."

Midorima tried to break free, but Takao was too strong. She cursed; This was not Takao, this was Takao's fever affecting him!

Suddenly, Takao went all quite and planted his head on Midorima's chest, snoring. He was finally asleep. Midorima exhaled slowly, relived. She pushed Takao's body slowly and put him on the bed, pulling up the sheets to cover his body.

Midorima's face was as hot as a volcano. She shook her head. _Don't mind! Don't mind! It's just Takao having his stupid dream!_

Midorima rolled over closer to watched Takao's sleeping face. Without her realization, she leaned in closer and parted her lips, motioning closer towards Takao's opened cheeks.

"Shin-chan…" Takao slept talk. Midorima paused.

"Takao?"

"Buy me the cake from that cake store again!" Takao wheezed.

A rooted vein popped up on Midorima's head as she slammed her schoolbag towards Takao's face, hurting him. "You stupid! Idiot! Moron! I take it back! I hate you!"


	8. Ch8: The Heart and Miss Shadow

**a/n= Hello guys don't worry I'm still alive! I don't intend to drop any stories. I just have a one-month exam that's all! I will be active...until around April maybe a little bit of hiatus because of another exam .**

**Username is changed due to security reasons fyi!**

**Thank you and please R&amp;R ^^**

**Comments are well appreciated!**

* * *

Midorima should have listened to Kise.

The blonde might not be one of the sharp-witted friends she had known, but she was one of the best players in Generations of Miracles, especially with her unstoppable trump card, the Perfect Copy. Kise's perception could never be wrong…

Seirin beat Shuutoku—seventy-three and seventy one.

During that game, it's one of the times when Midorima tasted defeat—well, MiraGen's victory never rattled even once, so the surprise attack from one of the most decent schools in Tokyo was a shocking revelation to the four-eyed female.

Nonetheless, Shuutoku's resolve remained firm, and they promised to meet Seirin at Inter-high and settle it once and for all. Seirin might be strong, but Shuutoku was stronger. Midorima knew that for a fact.

Oha-Asa would never lie.

* * *

_One week later:_

"Shi…Shin…Shin-ch…Shin-chan…!" Takao heaved in exhaustion as pedaled his ace's precious rickshaw. "Do I really have to pedal on the way home too?"

Midorima clicked her tongues in irritation before speaking. "Of course, dumbass. We just lost last week! You need more training for your cotton-like muscles!"

Takao jutted his lips outwards. "I know! Don't remind me that Shin-chan!" he whined. "I am just as heartbroken as you are! But I swear Cancer dominated the sign of the day last week."

"Maybe that day was just an outlier." Midorima replied in a matter of fact tone.

"That means Oha-Asa is not accurate!" Takao said brightly, as if he liked the idea of Oha-Asa's carelessness.

Midorima flashed him a petulant look and scowled. "Oha-Asa IS accurate! You just need to believe it, imbecile."

Takao winced playfully and raised his arms for surrender. "Fine! Fine! You win!"

"Hmph." Midorima stuck up her nose in the air as she straightened her glasses.

Suddenly, Takao's puffed up cheeks deflated and broke into a fit of laughter. The hawk-eyed gripped his stomach, laughing and laughing until tears escaped from his eyes.

Midorima's eyes snapped wide and glared at him accusingly. "What's with that laugh, bastard?"

After another round of high-pitched laughter, Takao finally replied. "Nah, I find it very amusing how you really believe Oha-Asa! And you look very happy when I surrender to you! That's just cute, Shin-chan!"

Midorima pinched her lips, her face flushed. "W-What the heck? It is only natural for a servant to listen her master! Erm..I mean a friend! S-Since I can't order my old friends in Teiko."

"Woo…what a badass." Takao cooed mockingly.

"Yes, so don't get me wrong. My happy expression is just to show my gratitude for having a friend like you. Nothing else."

"Yeah right 'friend'…" Takao rolled his eyes, but smiled anyways. "_ 'I'm sorry Takao nanodayo! I will not be angry to you nanodayo!' _show me that kind of side again, Shin-chan!"

Midorima inhaled sharply, her hands curled up into fist. Takao's jokes had really pushed the four-eyed girl on edge, but being familiar with her own demeanor, Midorima could just ponder on her misery silently.

As Takao continued his roundabout of laughter, Midorima peered behind her back, stealing a glance to her servant, who was now huffing and panting of his loss of energy.

Midorima smiled.

Takao looked at Midorima as if she grew two heads on her shoulders. For a moment, the jovial teen was sure he had seen his precious ace smiled. Even though nightfall had blanketed the street, Takao could see the faint, glinting white teeth in Midorima's lips.

Takao yanked the shirt above his chest, feeling his heart hammering against his ribs. He gulped, feeling heat travelled to his cheeks.

"Takao?"

Takao blinked as Midorima's voice snapped him from his thoughts. The four-eyed shooter was now looking at him expectantly. Her green orbs flickered in the darkness like an emerald hidden beneath the soil.

"What is it, my ace?" Takao grinned smugly at the girl, trying to hide his contemplation.

"I'm hungry."

Takao stopped pedaling and craned his head around the dimming surroundings. "We are already close to home. Don't tell me you want to pedal this to the city again."

"Nah." Midorima lifted her feet out of the wooden crate and hopped down from the cart. "Let's travel by foot."

Takao nodded and took a deep breath of relief. After locking their rickshaw near the closest pole, the couple strode off towards the city. As they proceed, they passed through the tall streetlights. One by one, these street lights flickered with life as dusk enveloped Tokyo.

The two walked in silence, faintly brushing their shoulders together. Midorima fixed her glasses constantly, and Takao simply hummed a random tune that came across his mind.

Nobody said a word.

Takao peered down at his ace, whose eyes were fixed on the road. By the side, he could see Midorima's pure green orbs behind the frame of her spectacles, her long eyelashes batting against the glass frame.

Midorima's lashes was her distinctive feature, which attracted Takao on the very first day he laid his eyes on her.

Takao bit his tongue. No! This was his _enemy_! His life-goal was to beat Midorima Shintaro in basketball, and while he was at it, he needed Midorima to notice him as a friend, so when he beats her, Midorima could feel the pain and frustration Takao had went through three years ago.

Suddenly, a neat frown curled up on his lips. Wait…that shouldn't happen, but it was his initial goal, but why?

Takao continued to stare at Midorima. If he looked closer, her eyes were a little droopy than usual. Was she always like this? Why did he just notice now? Her eyes always looked distant, as if she was looking across the unknown, while ignoring the time flowing beneath her.

_Was she always this distant…?_

"Shin-chan."

Midorima slowly looked up at him. "What?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Midorima craned her head curiously to the side. "Go ahead. Speak."

"I…"

_What the hell do you want to say dumbass? _Takao grabbed a fistful of his hair and cursed to himself.

"Hmm?" Midorima hummed, craning her head to the right.

"I want to know what exactly happen between you and the Generations of Miracles."

Takao was met by a blank stare.

Midorima's brows arched, and again, she fixed her glasses. Pinching her lips firmly together, she met Takao straight on the eye. She said nothing.

Takao was about to press further until he noticed Midorima's fingers were now gripping her skirt, her nails dug against the soft fabric. Before Takao could refrain her from speaking, Midorima shifted uncomfortably and spoke.

"I speculated you would ask." She said in her normal tone, but Takao could pick out the hint of edginess in her voice.

"Yeah, I really want to know," Takao added. "Now that you consider me as a friend and all, I think I have the right to know."

Midorima swayed her head left and forth, poking her chin thoughtfully. "So now I'm going to start. I will only say once. I will not repeat."

"Yes miss!" Takao saluted, smirking. Excitement and curiosity was brimming in his core; the story of the Generations of Miracles was going to be unveiled to him, especially it came from one of the members of MiraGen itself! Takao couldn't be more luckier.

Midorima was silent for a moment as her footsteps slowly decreased its pace. "The MiraGen are my first friends. I never have any friends until I meet them. Ryo has many fanboys mulling over her, same goes for Atsushi. Daiki used to date often and dump them on the next day. Sei has a mini crush on our captain, who was in love with Tetsu. Daiki's childhood friend also loves Tetsu."

Takao gaped and nodded his chin thoughtfully. "Kuroko is popular huh…"

"She deserves it. I hate to admit, but she got the heart of an angel. She is only an innocent girl who bears the burden of the GoM. She does nothing, and of course, she can't do anything. All she does is cry and cry. It makes me sick just by looking at her."

Takao snapped a surprise gaze at Midorima, who was now putting up a conflicted expression on her face. Takao elbowed her to continue.

"It all started when our egos boosted without limits. It started with Daiki, who happened to be Kuroko's best friend. Then, yeah…the same thing happens to each one of us, until I was the only one who remains at the court for practice."

"Really? So you're the only one practicing?"

"I believe that humans always have flaws no matter how hard they practice. I stayed alone, even Sei and Kuroko stopped coming."

Takao smiled fondly at the green-haired girl. "You're the most hardworking one out of all, Shin-chan!"

"But no! That's not the point here!" Midorima snapped, her voice desperate. "I was sick of…being alone in the court, so I decided to...turn the tables."

Takao pumped up his fist with anticipation, as if he was watching his favorite basketball game. Midorima sighed inwardly by the sight.

"That game with Shuutoku, is when I took the opportunity for vengeance. I never pass. I always shoot. My shoots never miss anyways."

Takao's smile faltered, suddenly looking alarmed. His mouth left opened, now staring at Midorima blankly.

"Then everyone flipped their shit. After the game, Atsushi challenged Sei, and that's when, Sei's decision affected all of us. She wanted us to be enemies in the court."

Takao, instead of flashing a dramatic expression, nodded silently.

Silence quickly fell as they arrived in the city, which was a little bit crowded than usual. Midorima pointed the fast food restaurant 'Maji Burger' and nudged Takao to go there for supper. As they made their way towards the food branch, they paused in front of a girly store a few steps away from the fast food diner.

Takao looked at Midorima with a skeptical frown. "Why do you want to stop here?"

Midorima pointed at a pair of red, lion hairband behind the glass store. Takao, who noticed where Midorima was pointing at, inquired her if it was her lucky item of the day.

"No, that's not." Midorima said. "It is the exact hairband the MiraGen and I bought for Akashi for her birthday. Since then, Akashi never tied her hair anymore to school. Well, she disposed the hairband right in front of our faces."

Takao's face torn as he try to registered the words to his brain. He never expected the whole GoM could have a cling to an important, cheap possession like a plastic hairband.

That's when Takao thought the MiraGen's relationship were more than just an invincible basketball team.

Midorima and Takao stared at the hairband longingly and shared the next minutes in apprehended silence. Before they peeled their eyes off from the glass window, a familiar voice intruded their reverie.

"Is that you, Shintaro-san?"

Midorima and Takao gasped and shared a puzzled glance to one another. They looked around and found no one, until they saw a short, petite girl appeared right before them in the blink of an eye. The couple shared a surprised squeal.

"Wait, aren't you Kuroko from Seirin?" Takao pointed at her with a questioning look.

Kuroko, who was holding a glass of Vanilla shake from Maji Burger, smiled gently at Takao and Midorima. "Ah it's the Shuutoku's hawk eye! Nice to meet you again, Takao-san!"

Before Midorima and Takao could reply, a tall figure with dark red hair loomed over the shorter girl. He was holding twenty burger bags within his grasp.

"Oi." The red-haired guy nudged his head towards the astonished couple. "What do you guys want? Are you going to make Kuroko cry again?"

Midorima and Takao, again, now shared a sheer puzzled glance to one another. What exactly was happening right now?


	9. Ch9: Similarities and Insecurities

**a/n= Hello people! Thank you for reviewing and rating this story! I never thought this story's popularity is slowly rising. I am grateful!**

**I hope I don't make Takao and Kagami's conversations here disturbing; if it does, I'm sorry ! I hope this doesn't put off people reading the future chapters!**

**Please R&amp;R! Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

* * *

If Kise and Yukio were Kaijo's verbal married couple, Kuroko and Kagami would be the practical one.

Takao tried to keep his feet from trembling—he was meeting another member of the Miracles! The hawk-eyed mourned by the fact that this situation was exactly similar when he met Kise and Yukio at the café. The only difference was the latter two were pretty flexible and fun to hang out with, but on the other hand, the couple from Seirin was almost the opposite.

The four of them sat on the corner table of Maji Burger in silence. The only noise that accompanied them was Kagami's pig-like chewing and Kuroko's slurping from her milkshake. Midorima was nibbling her hamburger tastelessly. Takao simply dug in through the fries, which he found a little bit more decent that he considered ordering another one.

"Kagami-kun." Kuroko slowly turned her head towards the huge boy beside her. "There's something on your mouth."

Kagami narrowed his eyes at her and grunted in response. "Leave it be. I will clean it once I finish eating."

Instead of listening to Kagami, Kuroko rummaged through her purse and fished out a light blue handkerchief before rubbing it carefully under Kagami's chin. Kagami's chewing paused, as if time had froze. He gaped, flushed, and looked away from Kuroko, muttering something like 'Thank you'. Kuroko flashed him an angelic smile. Kagami's face went redder like a ripened tomato.

Takao watched the whole incident and said teasingly. "Man, I never know Kagami-san is a tsundere despite his size!"

Kagami's eyes shot wide and growled indignantly. "Don't talk like you know me too well, hawk head."

Takao ignored Kagami's comment and shifted his attention to Kuroko. "Hey Kuro-chan, I think we both are in the same boat."

Kuroko was daydreaming before Takao's voice pulled her to reality. "Ah yes, sorry?"

"Well you see we are like _shadows _in the court and all." Takao spoke coolly, scratching the nape of his neck.

Kuroko's eyes crinkled with enthusiasm by the response. "Hm." She nodded. "I agree."

"Then, do you know our other similarity?" Takao curled a mischievous smile to his face.

Kuroko put her vanilla milkshake aside and narrowed her eyes naughtily. She slurred. "I think I know what you're trying to imply."

_What the hell is that expression?_ Midorima stared at Kuroko in disgust, shocked by the devilish face staining Kuroko's impurity. The four-eyed could sense Kagami's puzzled expression by looking at Kuroko.

Takao cleared his throat, as if he was announcing the winner of the Oscars. "Kagami and Shin-chan are tsunderes!"

Kuroko nodded. "I agree!"

The two shadows shared a high-five.

Even though Kuroko's face remained stoic, everyone could see the sheer enthusiasm glowing in her eyes.

Kagami and Midorima sweat dropped, cursing inwardly.

"The tsundere of light!" Takao exclaimed.

"The tsundere holy luminescence." Kuroko added.

"Woah, that's some deep vocabulary man!" Takao was now grinning ear to ear. "Fine I won't lose! The tsundere luminosity!"

"Tsundere lambency." Kuroko countered.

Takao gulped, pretty much knew the outcome of this mini match. "The tsundere…umm…eh… luster?"

"Tsundere effulgence."

"Is that even a word?!"

Kagami and Midorima snapped simultaneously. "Both of you shut up!"

Kuroko ignored them as she pulled out her phone and toggled with it. "Takao-san, you're interesting. Can I have your phone number?"

Takao's eyes widened, a wave of pride and happiness washed his core. He quickly took out his phone and said excitedly. "Yes Kuroko-sama! Wait a minute!"

Midorima's parted her lips; Kuroko rarely used her phone, alone calling her other teammates. Back then, she only have Aomine in her contact list, and Midorima and Akashi didn't even get her phone number until the end of their first year.

Feeling the peculiar sinking feeling in her stomach, Midorima jerked from her seat. "Why do you want Takao's number?"

Takao, Kuroko and Kagami's eyes were immediately fired at her, as if Midorima was a fugitive criminal.

"Oi, what's your problem?" Kagami inquired her petulantly. "Kuroko is just asking his number. She won't steal your goddamn boyfriend."

"Takao is not my boyfriend!" Midorima spat, her ears reddened. "I'm just...well…she never gathered any phone number back in Teiko."

"I already gathered all of Seirin's teammates phone number, Midorima-san," Kuroko replied calmly. "I am learning how to socialize."

The fact that Kuroko was a bookworm and an anti-socialist in Teiko nerved Midorima even more. The latter never had any friends in Teiko except the miracles, but the green-haired female hated to admit that Kuroko was not the only one with the identical situation.

So when Kuroko said it, Midorima somehow felt betrayed; she might not like Kuroko Tetsuya that much, but it was the only thing they had in common for Midorima to permit their relationship in the first place.

"It is weird coming from you, Tetsuya." Midorima said as she stood up from her chair and slung her backpack to her rigid shoulders. "I will be going ahead. Takao, just go home without me."

With that curt command, Midorima left.

_I'm the worse. _She thought as she breezed past the automatic door towards the road.

Before everyone in the table finished registering the tension into their mind, Kuroko jerked from her seat with a loud screech.

"Midorima-san!" she said in panicked as she hurtled towards the door, chasing the green-haired female.

Takao was left alone with Kagami. He shuddered, familiar with Kagami's monstrous personality and manner. _Goddamit! I was left with a beast!_

"Well, it looks like that shooter might have some insecurities." Kagami suddenly spoke, his voice neutral.

Takao blinked, confused— Kagami said something meaningful instead of swearing random shit.

Takao drew a deep breath before speaking. "Shin-chan is quite a complicated person, I must admit."

"Buh, all these miracle princesses are too complex to begin with," Kagami took a large bite from his final hamburger. "I know they have gone through shit and all in Teiko, but still."

Takao raised his eyebrows, curios by the lead of the conversation. "Huh? You know the issue of Teiko?"

"Damn right no shit, Kuroko told me everything." Kagami said nonchalantly. "At first, my goal is to beat these arrogant bitches called 'Generations of Miracles', but after listening to Kuroko and have a match against Kaijo, I still need to reconsider."

Takao chuckled, tilting his head to the side. "I don't know someone as brash of you has a functional mind to reason!"

Kagami said with a scowl. "I love basket, but making girls cry just put me off you know."

Takao shrugged off Kagami's comment, despite finding it noble. "What happened when you compete against Kaijo?"

"After beating them, the blonde cried." Kagami leaned his hand against his chin in boredom. "Then her captain lectured me some shit about she's being guilty or whatever. These girls took these things too personally, don't you think?"

"I heard they used to be self-centered." Takao added.

"Yup, cocky bitches acting all high and mighty and cry when they fell down to their heels." Kagami sneered, taking a slurp of his soda.

"That's not very nice." Takao frowned, playing with his fries.

Kagami let out a dark chuckle in response. "I get it. I'm not surprised if these girls suddenly flip shit or cry or whatever. At least they realized their mistake."

The two shared the next moment in silence, contemplating on their conversation. Takao really wanted to know more about the MiraGen, but of course, he can't force Shin-chan just to spit it out. Wait, what about Kuroko? How does Kagami deal with the angelic girl?

"Um..Kagami-san, if Kuroko is in the miracles," Takao started. "How did you actually deal with her."

Kagami's double eyebrows arched, amused. He tapped his fingers nervously, as if he was reciting a poem in class. After a moment of hesitation, a fond smile made it's way to Kagami's face.

"Unlike you and all the unfortunate guys out there," Kagami said with a smile. "I feel blessed meeting her."

Takao choked his drink. Kagami was now letting out a chortle.

"Kuroko is the one who received most of the burden." Kagami said, his face crestfallen. "At first, I thought she is annoying and lame because she can't play basketball. But her determination and her desire to reconnect her friends impressed me. It makes me…"

"You're in love with her, right?" Takao rolled his brows, amused.

Kagami was silent before he admitted. "Yeah, a little bit."

Takao inflated his cheeks and whined like a fanboy. "Liar! I know you can't resist her cuteness and died to ogle her tiny, little, loli body!"

"_WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" _Kagami barked as a dip of blood streamed from his nose. "Your miracle girl has boobs and thighs! Have you ever consider?"

Takao fluttered his eyelids calmly as he spoke. "Well, I never lust for a woman before. But I will treat Shin-chan with respect, unlike you, pervert."

"We'll see who lose our virginity first." Kagami teased the hawk-eyed, causing Takao to broke into an explosion of red on his face.

"You're a tease! You're really an erotic pervert! Bakagami pervert!"

Takao and Kagami shared laughter before Kagami finally calmed down and spoke to close their encounter.

"Well, Midorima might be a bitch sometimes, but remember these miracle girls have lots of security! Take care of her."

Takao looked at Kagami with respect as he nodded in acknowledgement. "I don't know you're good with women, bakagami!"

"I asked my coach Riko for some tips."

As Kagami and Takao closed their conversation with another pervert bickering, a short, red-haired girl with waist length hair was passing their table before she flopped down to the nearby table. Her scarlet iris glowed in anger as she bit her nails anxiously.

"What a nonsense conversation. MiraGen should not be treated as girls," she chuckled darkly before nibbling her fries. "Because we will be always monsters."


	10. Ch10: Mend the Broken, Tear the Empress

**a/n= Thank you for the reviews everyone! I feel very appreciated!**

**Just in case if you wonder where this story will go, this chapter will be a little bit 'cliche' , especially the final part. Before we proceed, I am SORRY if Akashi is OOC; because in this story, she is actually sort of interested in -ehrm! And I think readers are aware that if you fall in love, no matter what personality you have, you may jitter out or lose your shit around your crush .**

**Reviews are well appreciated! Please R&amp;R!**

* * *

"Midorima-san! Wait for me!"

Midorima's lips parted in surprise and sped up her pacing. Her footsteps clicked hurriedly against the concrete road, yet Kuroko's hasty footprints caught up with her, and to her disbelief, the shadow was already walking beside her.

Midorima felt her nerve itching. She finally said bitterly. "What do you want to do with me?"

Kuroko replied rather calmly despite the four-eyed's hostile attitude. "I just want to say sorry for making you jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" Midorima countered offensively, her face warmed. "I don't mind if you take Takao as your boyfriend! But, I'm not really sure if Aquarius and Scorpio are compatible, because according to Oha-Asa, they don't say anything about the compatibility of these two signs because they are so rare…"

"I'm not talking about Takao." Kuroko deadpanned, cutting her.

Midorima stifled in embarrassment, now flicking her eyes left and right. "Ah…I see," she said lamely. "You should speak clearer next time, Kuroko."

"It's not my fault, you're thinking about Takao." Kuroko stated, sounding obvious.

Midorima shrugged Kuroko's statement and straightened her glasses, adjusting it closer to the bridge of her nose. Clearing her throat, she crossed her arms above her chest, falling into her usual, cool demeanor. "Then please elaborate your statement clearly this time."

Kuroko let out a low sigh and shook her head disapprovingly. "You're avoiding my statement. But anyways, there is something I want to make it clear."

Midorima nodded her head, ready to listen.

At the moment, Kuroko glared at her shoes, as if she was trying to put in the right words to her tongue. Once in awhile, she twitched uncomfortably, stiffening her shoulders. After taking one final gulp, Kuroko tightened her fist with resolve, mustering out her words.

"Midorima-san, how is your social life in Shuutoku?"

Midorima furrowed her brows. A gray scaled, mental image of her broken Kerosuke and jeering female students instantly played in her mind like an old movie. Despite the sudden sinking feeling in her stomach, Midorima's cool voice never faltered. "Everything is good."

"Do you have any friends beside Takao?"

Midorima cursed inwardly. Well, maybe she could consider her pineapple-complex senpai as her friend, or even Ootsubo and Kimura. Maybe even the airhead and noisy Sachika, who acclaimed as Midorima's best friend—one sided though.

"Well my teammates, Ootsubo, Kimura, Miyaji…" Midorima started listing all the names of the club members even though she didn't know them personally and facially. "And the class prez Sachika, who is one of Takao's friends."

Kuroko looked at her with a skeptical frown. "Do you know them as friends or people that just talk to you?"

"Both."

"They are different Midorima-san."

"Look, I don't want to hear any social lecturing, especially from you." Midorima said defensively.

"I don't want to give you any social lecture," Kuroko said with failing patience. "I just want to make a point."

"Then speak!"

Kuroko instinctively took a step back, astounded by Midorima's outburst. Midorima realized it and pulled up her lips to a tight line—guilt, shame, and pain weighed up on her chest. Midorima wanted to apologize, but she believed putting a trivial feeling across—such as an apology— would be pointless.

Despite the fading color from her face, Kuroko's voice trailed firmly. "Ever since the incident in Teiko…" she was silent for a moment, and the name 'Teiko' brought a pang of guilt to Midorima's chest. Kuroko recoiled before she spoke further. "I feel very lonely. That is why; I want to become friends with my current teammates. It's the only thing I have ever wanted."

Midorima's eyes flew wide as pain shot up to her body like a serum.

The MiraGen knew it was their fault that Kuroko was broken mentally and spiritually; none of them ever apologized. Even Midorima, who was never fond of the latter, felt ashamed of her decision to follow the footsteps of her fellow team members instead of siding with this little girl.

Instinctively, Midorima pressed the back of her hand against Kuroko's pale cheek. Kuroko's eyes narrowed, slightly cautious and jittery by the sudden gesture.

"Stay still." Midorima said. Kuroko obeyed with a frown.

Inwardly, Midorima clawed her hair in frustration—she had no idea what the hell was she doing right now, but deep inside her, she knew she just had to. Kuroko had been through a lot in Teiko, but up until now, nobody wanted to listen to her.

The green-haired male knew she wasn't a vocal person, so she couldn't just press Kuroko to spill her heart out about the latter subject. If stroking her cheeks like this could make her to read Kuroko's pain, then Midorima was more willing to do it, even if it would affect her daily luck.

As the back of her hand slowly traced over Kuroko's cheekbones, it really reminded her when she talk to Kuroko for the first time:

"_Midorima-san, I bought your favorite red bean drink."_

_Midorima looked up and saw the teal-haired female smiling at her. Her arms stretched out, and a can of red bean juice was gripped firmly between her petite fingers._

_Despite the voluntary kindness, Midorima furrowed her eyebrows, familiar with the un-compatibility between Cancer and Aquarius—which happened to be Kuroko's sign._

"_I refuse." Midorima said flatly. "I don't want to be too familiar with you, Kuroko-san."_

"_Is it because of my sign?" Kuroko tilted her head cutely. She didn't look offended, not at all._

"_Please leave." Midorima commanded, avoiding her gaze._

_After a few moments of silent, Kuroko nodded as she placed the red bean can beside Midorima before she left. As Kuroko retreated, Midorima glued her gaze towards the juice can, somehow feeling grateful because her throat was getting sore._

_That was when Midorima stood up and cried for her name._

_Kuroko halted. She obeyed and approached Midorima with expectant eyes. Tilting her head thoughtfully, Midorima pressed the back of her hand against Kuroko's cheeks._

_Kuroko pouted, glaring at the taller girl. "What is that for?"_

"_You need to eat more," Midorima replied. "You're so skinny."_

"_I thought you hate Aquarius."_

"_Some of them might be an exception." _

After reminiscing the memory in her mind, Midorima brushed her hand away from Kuroko. She noticed a few things—Kuroko was getting skinnier since Teiko. The black moons under her eyes were slowly fading, but they were still there, lingering like a shadow.

Midorima gulped, her throat bounced. After a moment of hesitation, Midorima finally spoke. "Kuroko, from the thing in Teiko," she flushed, slightly embarrassed of herself for picking the exact, cheesy line from Kise. "I'm sorry."

Kuroko flashed her a grateful smile and nodded. "I accept your apology."

Midorima felt something warm stung on her eyes. She cursed—she wasn't going to cry, was she? Before the tears spilled from her eyes, a loud, high-pitched, female shriek blared out of the blue.

"Shin-chi! Tet-chi!"

It was pretty obvious who called them—Kise stood there in her Kaijo uniform, her golden pigtail bounced behind her head. She skipped towards their direction, humming another happy tune with a wide grin on her face. Behind her, Yukio tailed her with a sigh.

"Yo, it's nice to meet you guys again." Yukio gave them an airy wave.

"Nice to meet you again, Kasamatsu-san," Kuroko bowed with a polite gesture. "I am looking forward for our next match."

Yukio cocked his brows and grinned. "Trying to sound modest huh, Seirin? Where is your big boyfriend?"

"Did I hear somebody call me boyfriend?"

Everyone snapped their head towards Takao and Kagami, who had just left Maji Burger and joined in the circle.

Takao's eyes flickered with excitement. "Woah! Everybody is here!"

"So what? There is nothing to be excited about." Midorima flashed him a petulant look.

"Shin-chan! Admit it, you love your friends!" Takao jutted his lips outward, pouting.

Midorima shied her gaze from Takao, giving him an indignant 'hmph' and left Takao chattering away with Yukio and Kagami, and the girls of course.

Suddenly, the night air breezed across the road as a piece of ragged leaf waltzed passed them. The party broke into a shivering fit, especially Kuroko, who started sneezing.

Kagami quickly undo his top jersey and laid it upon Kuroko's tiny shoulders. Kuroko blinked, her eyes flicking back and forth between Kagami and his jersey. Kagami gave her a toothy grin. Kuroko blushed, murmuring a low 'thank you'.

Kise let out a dramatic gasp and clung to Yukio's arms like an anchor, stupefying her captain, who was staring at her with a conflicted expression.

"Kise, you little brat... let me go!"

"It's cold, senpai!" she moaned, taking Yukio's warm hands and rubbing it against her cheeks.

Feeling the smooth, milky skin against the back of his palm, Yukio zipped his mouth shut, preventing his face from flushing red.

Midorima hugged her arms and brushed her nails against her chilling skin. Before she knew it, huge pairs of warm arms engulfed her waist, melting her body with warmth. Takao hummed, brushing his face against her neck.

Midorima flinched, scowled. "Let me go, freak!"

"I'm cold Shin-chan," Takao said, his hot breath fanned against Midorima's neck.

Midorima shivered, but she stayed still.

From the distance, a red-haired female was looking over the crowd in disgust. Scowling, she snaked a leather scarf around her neck, exhaling out puffs of cold air.

"How unsightly." She mumbled under her breath. "They are supposed to be sharping their blades, not fooling around like a bunch of mundanes."

After giving them one final disgusted glance, the short female retreated, her footsteps clicked and echoed against the concrete pavement.

"Eh, Akashi-chan? Is that you?"

Akashi blinked, and before her, a tall man with dark-hair and a pair of golden eyes stood before her. A stupid grin crooked up on his lips.

Akashi gaped, her lips trembling. She felt her face warmed. "N-Nijimura-senpai."

Nijimura Shuuzo—MiraGen's ex captain in Teiko—softened his smile and raked Akashi's hair messily. "It's been a long time I haven't seen you! Wow, you are in Rakuzan now?"

Akashi looked at her uniform and nodded. "Y-Yes, senpai. I thought you're supposed to be in America."

Nijimura scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Well, my dad's health is improving, so I come back to Japan for fresh air."

Akashi's placid face bloomed, now she was smiling widely. "That's really good to hear senpai!"

Nijimura nodded. "Hm!" he nodded. "After all, I am coming here to complete my final mission!'

"Final mission?" Akashi tilted her head to the side, curious.

"I am going to confess to Kuroko Tetsuya." Nijimura rubbed his chin bashfully. "Well, I think you already know it, Akashi-chan!"

Akashi's jovial expression withered. Her stern expression quickly returned. "I see."

Nijimura's eyes widened, realizing something was off from his kouhai. "Akashi-chan, are you okay?"

Without a word, Akashi stalked passed him and proceeded walking towards home.

She bit her thumb and flickered her heterochromatic eyes with pride. "I am not like them. I can't let this weak feeling control me."


	11. Ch11: Teiko Angels (Part 2)

**a/n=Sorry for the long update guys!**

**So here it is, the 2nd part of _Teiko Angels _to celebrate the Teiko arc episode! note that the Teiko angels compilation is mostly going to be comedic, but I am going to put the angst stuff in the corner. I wanna apologize if this story pacing is so slow and each chapter seems like a filler, but the filler is important because I wanna build it up until the peak of angst. I also apologized for the science/ biology reference in this chapter XD I hope I don't freak you out!**

**Please tell me what you think because there is more of Akashi in this chapter.**

**Please R&amp;R! Reviews are appreciated!**

* * *

When the teacher's approaching footsteps clicked and echoed outside the classroom, Midorima felt her breath caught up on her throat.

The students switched terrified glances and whispered their goodbyes before slipping into their seats in silence. The recent murmurs that had taken place drowned into deafening silence.

Oblivious of his students' turmoil, the teacher appeared on the doorway and briskly made his way into the class—a fat, stack of paper cradled in his arms, and its presence triggered the moans and groans from the students; last week's math test had been checked, and it was ready to bend the mental of girls and boys alike—including Midorima, who was anxiously biting her thumb.

Clearing his throat, the teacher declared loudly. "The test result was a huge disappointment."

He paused; trying to brew the tense already accumulating the room. He smirked when the students started jittering their butts on their comfortable chairs.

"But as usual, there are a few exceptions." The teacher flashed them a forced grin. "So first, Midorima Shintaro…"

Midorima squeaked, almost slipping the Kerosuke figure from her fingers. After brushing her skirt bashfully, the green-haired female walked brazenly towards the teacher, who was holding her paper with triumph.

"Congratulations, Midorima-kun." He handed the paper to her with a genuine smile. "This time, you got a hundred percent. You beat Akashi's record. Akashi-kun, you got ninety nine percent this time."

Akashi, who was leaning her chin in boredom, said nonchalantly with a thin smile. "I guess there are some miscalculations. Well done, Shintaro."

"Come on, Akashi." Aomine's voice piped up across the room. "You're just making reasons. It's pretty obvious Midorima studies more than you. You are just naturally genius!"

"I am supposed to be faltered, Aomine-san." Akashi fluttered her long eyelashes, causing the Akashi fanboys to scream internally. "But I believe that you're just being sarcastic."

"Exactly, Aomine-kun." The teacher nodded. "You don't have the place to say anything because for one, you have the lowest score in the class. Thirteen percent."

The class erupted into laughter; Aomine's infamous grades had been a fresh humor for this particular Teiko homeroom, and to the teacher's chagrin, Aomine laughed with them, because she didn't care about anything except finding ways to grow her boobs.

"Aominechhi fail again!" Kise sung, spinning on her chair. Aomine looked at her accusingly before letting her tongue out.

The teacher grunted and sighed. "Don't be like that Kise! You got sixteen percent! Just three points above!"

Kise shrieked and hugged her chest, tears brimming on her eyes. "Why….why…"

"Go die, moron!" Aomine countered her with a naughty wink.

After the teacher had distributed most of the papers—paired up with cries of joy and grief from each student—the teacher flailed the last two papers in the air with a frown.

"Tetsuya Kuroko and Murasakibara Atsushi." He said. "Your answers are alike. I hope you guys can explain this to me."

Despite the teacher's unhappy declaration and the pairs of eyes piercing at the duo, Kuroko replied calmly.

"Atsushi-chan said if I let her copy question three until six, she would buy me three cups of vanilla milkshake."

"And Tet-chan said if I let her copy the last section, she will buy me a dozen of pocky boxes." Murasakibara said lazily, casually tying her long hair to a bun.

The teacher shook his head helplessly and ushered them to take their test back. Aomine jerked from her seat and laughed out loud. "What a bunch of hungry kids! I doubt the protease in your stomach could digest them!"

"Maltase or amylase should be the ones to digest snacks like pocky." Midorima corrected her. "Well, protease could work if it's a chocolate flavored one."

"What about lipase?" Kise suddenly butted in.

"It's for fats, like your boobs!" Aomine said confidently.

"Well, I'm impressed you got that right." Akashi smiled evilly at Aomine. Suddenly, her left eye glowed. "Now kneel."

Aomine crashed to the floor while moaning for her ankle.

* * *

After the final bell rang, the students quickly filtered out of the room. Akashi and Midorima stayed up late to sort the basketball files and other documents as class representatives. The other Miragen went straight home.

Midorima was spreading the files in the alphabetical order until Akashi's voice snapped her from her reverie.

"Shintaro."

Midorima arched her brows and looked at her. "Yes?"

"Stay."

Midorima did as she told as Akashi hauled from her seat and skipped behind her. Her eyes flew wide in shock when she shorter girl yanked her hair upwards and tied her hair painfully with a stretchy rubber band.

After a moment of writhing in agony, Midorima felt her hair had been blown by a massive hurricane.

"Done!" Akashi hopped in front of Midorima, trying to get a better view. As she tilted her head studying the four-eyed, a tiny smile curled up on her lips. "It's pretty."

Midorima quirked her brow doubtfully and reached for her bag to take out her lucky mirror. The moment her eyes fell upon her reflection, a wave of nausea churned up on her stomach.

"Akashi, what's this?"

Akashi's face torn by the expression on Midorima's face and turned away shyly. "I tried to make buns on your hair, like Atsushi's hairstyle."

Midorima chuckled inwardly. Despite Akashi's straight-laced and superior standards, the latter was actually very girly and has abnormal attractions towards hairstyles.

Midorima heaved a sigh and patted her lap. "Come here."

Akashi's gaze shifted back and forth between Midorima's lap and deadpanned face. She frowned. "No, I'm not a kid anymore!"

"I will not provide this service for the other girls." Midorima smiled at her.

Akashi blushed. She knew well how _tsundere _Midorima was, so when the green-haired female was suddenly affectionate, Akashi knew well the best thing to do was not to say 'no' to her sudden generosity. She obediently sat on Midorima's lap and pondered on her despair.

As Akashi tilted her head down in embarrassment, Midorima's fingers looped around Akashi's red locks and started overlapping them together. Her fingers gracefully ran across Akashi's slippery red hair and carefully tying them together with a little rubber band, trying not to injure the shorter girl.

"Are you done yet?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

Akashi shrugged indignantly and fetched for Midorima's mirror.

She gasped in awe; Midorima had tied her hair into a neat braid.

"T-T-This is superior…" Akashi said in awe, now smoothing her braids that had fell on her shoulder.

Midorima shrugged, tidying up her items. "I only can do that hairstyle. It's my sister's favorite."

"I love it, Shintaro!" Akashi beamed at her.

The honeyed, evening light from the window highlighted Akashi's smile, warping them with mellow glow. Midorima found the scene to be beautiful. She wanted Akashi to smile like that forever.

"Hey you girls, are you supposed to be home by now?"

Midorima and Akashi switched startled glances and saw their captain—Nijimura Shuuzo— leaned against the doorframe. Wrapping his arms, the captain flashed them a gentle smile that the girls had come to love.

Even his smile managed to break the ice in Akashi's heart. The red-haired girl stifled a gasp, tracing her hands over her braid bashfully. "Well, we are still finishing our documents, captain."

Nijimura raised his brows and nodded. "Nice! You girls are very diligent! By the way Akashi-chan, nice braids!"

Akashi's face was now like the color in her hair. She fiddled with her thumbs and bowed deeply. "T-Thank you! Captain!"

Silently, Midorima was recording the whole thing. She would send it to Kise, who might broadcast the video to the rest of the gang; there was no doubt about it.

* * *

Today was Akashi's birthday, but the little girl insisted to continue practice instead of going home early to celebrate.

"Come on Seicchi!" Kise whined, bouncing off her yellow ponytail. "It's your fifteenth birthday!"

Akashi shook her head with disapproval and frowned. "It shouldn't be necessary. Victory is our principle. We don't have to celebrate any kind of petty celebrations."

Nijimura, who had listened to the whole conversation, put on a sad expression and folded his hand. The captain was always head over heels with one of the Miragen members, Kuroko Tetsuya. Nijimura knew the reason why Akashi brought her to the first string in the first place; it was for the sake of the captain.

Akashi was one of those people Nijimura had cared about.

Quietly, his eyes shifted around the room cautiously. The manager was absent today, so there was nobody to give them strict orders. Sometimes, the rainbow-themed captain felt guilty for treating the girls like victory dolls.

He took a deep gulp and called Kise and Aomine, who were arguing about the new panties on sale.

"Hey girls." He rubbed his head sheepishly as he approached them. Kise and Aomine stared at him with confusion, tilting their heads.

"What captain?" Aomine asked him indignantly. "Do you want me to buy you some male panties? What's your size?"

Nijimura rolled his eyes desperately. He raked his mind to find the right words to speak towards these flamboyant ladies. After a moment of hesitation, huffing, Nijimura laid his hand in front of them.

"Can you girls give me any change?"

"Change?" Kise quizzed him and dug her pocket, pulling out a five hundred yen coin.

Nijimura nodded. "That would work. What about you, Aomine?"

The dark haired girl rubbed her chin thoughtfully and sauntered to her backpack. "I will check it at my bag."

So, Nijimura asked the leftover changes from the Miragen, even the greedy Murasakibara managed to give him a 300 yen coin. After collecting at least 1000 yen, Nijimura dropped by to the store downtown. In the end, he only got a pair of pigtail hairband for the soon-to-be captain.

"Captain or not, she's just a little shorty with a girly mind." Nijimura looked at the hairpin thoughtfully.

Suddenly, the image of Akashi with her braids drifted into his mind. Nijimura found himself smiling.

"I believe she will like it." Nijimura chuckled at himself. "After all, this is the money from her friends."

When Nijimura went to the cashier to pay for the accessory, a shocked expression twisted on his face when he noticed he was at loss for 300 yen. That's right, Aomine's money!

When he pulled out his pocket, a horror expression stricken his face when a box of condom had been resurfaced from his pocket.

Nijimura howled in shame; he never opened the condom package to find the 300-yen he needed.


	12. Ch12: Maybe it's just Us Going too Fast

**a/n= Hell guys! sorry for the VERY LONG hiatus! I have IGCSE exams and now I'm almost done with it! Thankfully, I have one week gap so I can go back writing fanfictions!**

**Can you guys tell me whether I should continue this story? This story is very fun to write with all the fluff and all, but I don't see the point sometimes. I mean, I have the ending in mind and schedule this story will end somewhere in chapter 30 ish, but IDK if I can make it that far because I will be busy because I will start college in 4 months!**

**Please, R&amp;R! Reviews are appreciated!**

* * *

Finally, a normal day.

A normal day without any dramatic rainbow skittles, except for his eccentric 'girlfriend' of course.

Takao sat on the bench in the gym, thirstily chugging a bottle of water. Because the Nationals were few weeks away, Miyaji-senpai had become stricter when it comes to practice. The pineapple-obsessed male had been scolding everybody non-stop, even Midorima, who accidentally shot the opposing team's ring. Usually, it would be Takao's laughing material, but not today.

"Oi Miyaji," Ootsubo gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Give it a break man. We still have a few more days."

Miyaji looked horrified by Ootsubo's casual comfort and barked at him. "Just a few more days? And are you telling me to go easy on these punks because it's just a few more days?!"

Kimura stalked from behind and smiled nervously. "Umm…my parents had received the pineapple, I can give you one today if you wish…"

"Kimura, shut up."

Ootsubo and Kimura traded surprised glances and shook their heads with a tired smile. They knew out Miyaji didn't intend to blame anyone in the Shuutoku members, in fact if there's anyone Miyaji could worry about— it would be nobody but himself.

Ootsubo fixed his gaze at the blonde. Miyaji and him were the ones who have worked hard with blood and sweat in order to make it to the starters' team; they even became one when they were in second year. Ootsubo watched as Miyaji dribbled around the court and shot the ball effortlessly passing the ring. Despite the perfect pass, Ootsubo knew Miyaji wasn't satisfied, yet.

On the other side of the court, Midorima wiped the sweat off her forehead with her towel. Takao approached her and said. "Miyaji-senpai seems to be so strict today."

Midorima stared at him longingly before shrugging. "Duh! It's almost nationals! At least the atmosphere here is not as strict as in Teiko."

"Hey hey, we are serious too you know." Takao winked at her, and Midorima giggled a little. Takao swore his heart skipped a beat.

Midorima's smile melted into a frown as she clenched her hands into a fist. "I want to beat Seirin so badly. There's no way I can lose to them."

"Hah! You just want to meet Kuro-chan again, right?" Takao scoffed, followed by his signature laughter.

"Oh, you guys are using 'chan' now?" Midorima rolled her eyes, looking unimpressed. She shoved her towel inside her bag and breezed passed Takao, heading towards the door.

Takao noticed the signal of a bad sign and started keeping up with her. "Wait! Wait Shin-chan! You're still my dearest girl! I will never look at anyone but my precious ace Shin-chan!"

"Takao, shut up."

"Why does everyone say shut up to each other?" Ootsubo said wryly. "I thought we are all a team."

Nobody seems to be interested to reply Ootsubo's stupid comment except Kimura. "Well, I can always bring pineapples to light up our mood. After all, it's almost summer…"

"Kimura, _please_, shut up." Ootsubo sighed tiredly before he ambled towards the locker room.

Evening fell over Tokyo when Midorima and Takao passed the school gates. As usual, Takao did all the talking while Midorima nodded and threw off curt comments on Takao's conversation. Sometimes, Midorima would speak more when Takao inquired her anything about astrology—something glowed behind Midorima's eyes whenever she spoke about the latter subject, and she would say everything so profoundly as if the information was like the back of her palm.

But instead of listening to her astrology rants, Takao mostly watched Midorima's face bathed with delight whenever she talks about the subject she loved. She would bit her nail when she was in deep in thought. She would fixed her glasses constantly when she was in too deep towards a subject, and the best of all, she would actually _smile _at Takao whenever Takao quizzed her deeper on a particular subject.

At first, Takao's goal to get closer towards Midorima Shintaro was to make her recognize him as her rival, so Takao could destroy her and make her feel guilty about her negligent attitude towards Shuutoku.

But the more time they spent together, the more Takao realized that he didn't want Midorima to notice him as a rival, but something more. Why did he always flirt with Midorima? Sometimes Takao couldn't find the answer. To make her recognize him as his rival or something more?

Takao then realized whenever he was with her, his heart thumped against his chest, as if it would explode any moment.

Then, he realized history had been repeating.

He, again, lost to Midorima—because he fell in love with Midorima Shintaro.

He didn't love Midorima as a regular girl he could flirt in the hallway. He didn't love Midorima like a reliable teammate that could be the pawn of the court.

He loved Midorima just the way she was.

"Takao, are you listening?"

Takao blinked. His eyes flew wide when he noticed Midorima leaned closer towards him, her wide eyes behind her glasses glued towards his face. Her lips pulled up to a cute pout, and Takao wondered if he could push his face a few inches closer to feel her lips.

"Ah, Shin-chan! Yes, I am listening!" he spoke nervously, scratching his head.

Midorima's pout deepened and said. "I can tell you're daydreaming. What do you have in mind?"

Takao's lips parted to speak, but the words stuck in his throat. Without hesitation, Takao yanked Midorima's hands and clutched it tight as if he was holding to dear life. Midorima stifled a gasp, and slowly, her face bloomed into myriad shades of red. She started stammering.

"T-T-Takao! What are you doing?" she protested, trying to release the firm grip.

Takao planted a kiss on her palm.

Midorima stared at him at the moment as she regained her cool. "What are you doing, moron?"

Despite the hostility in her voice, Takao could make out the tiny nervousness in Midorima's face. His eyes widened when his gaze fell upon Midorima, who crossed her arms and glared at him with a scarlet blush on her face.

Umm….Takao racked his brain for words—since he started his bold move, it was his responsibility how to handle this situation.

So…what should he say next?

_1\. "I love you, Midorima" _Then hug her_**.**_Nah, that will make her freak out, and Takao respected her personal space.

_2\. "I'm just joking!"_ Yeah, then Midorima would forget everything, and Takao would be back in the place he was already in.

3\. "_Others."_ Fuck. That won't work!

_Why is this whole thing is like a dating sim?!_

After taking in a deep, long breath, Takao strolled towards the nearby bench and sat. Midorima, surprisingly timid, sat beside him quietly.

"You know Shin-chan, I know it sounds weird but, I really enjoy spending time with you." Takao smiled fondly as he spoke. "I am happy I can meet the Generations of Miracles, and realizing something…"

He turned to Midorima, who was nervously playing with her nails. She kept her calm façade though, to Takao's pleasure. She was doing it _really _well.

"At first, I was obsessed into beating you girls. I mean, you girls beat us heartlessly you know! Especially you! You're my revenge target, and in order to do it, I want you to notice me as your rival…but then…then…I…"

Midorima gaped, now staring at Takao with wide eyes. Takao gulped.

"I somehow realized the background of the Miragen. You girls are hurt pretty badly. Each one of you. I can't do anything, but it would be nice if I can at least be your remedy to your pain, Shin-chan."

"Takao…" she stifled a gasp, taking his hand.

"Please give me a chance, Shin-chan." Takao grinned at her. "I know I am such a big nuisance and all but…I really do like you, Shin-chan."

Before Takao said anything, soft pair of lips caught his.

It was a simple, chaste kiss, their lips faintly brushing against one another. Midorima scowled and chided. "I am just trying to stay in the mood."

"You just kissed me." Takao said without exclaiming— Maybe because he had been anticipating this.

"I do."

Takao chuckled, and Midorima's face reddened. Slowly, Takao gripped her waist and brought her closer to him. Midorima, surprisingly, leaned closer to the point their nose brushed against each other.

"Do you want to do it again?" Takao purred, sliding Midorima's green locks behind her ears.

Midorima stifled and said nervously. "No Takao, I think we should…"

"I know you want to."

Midorima halted. After a moment of hesitation, she closed her eyelids and leaned closer. She could feel Takao's breath fanning against her neck, and the faint, sensation of his lips…

"I didn't know you have sunk this low, Shintaro."

Midorima and Takao's eyes widened. They pulled back immediately and found a scarlet-haired female stood before them. Her heterochromatic eyes glowed in disgust, and her lips pulled into a snarl.

"I thought you're better than the rest. But in the end out of all the ones I've witnessed, you're the worst."

Color drained from Midorima's face as she stuttered. "A-Akashi?"

"Yeah it's me." Akashi wrapped her arms and frowned. "Are you out of your dream yet? Ace?"

Midorima hauled to her feet and protested. "Look Akashi, this is not like what you think…"

"You guys just kissed in front of me." Akashi gave her a malicious smirk. "Really, just when it's close to nationals, all of you are fooling around like cheap high school girls."

"Akashi wait—"

"I saw each of you girls with a man!" Akashi said calmly, but there was a hint of anger and malice in her voice.

Midorima was loss for words, but on the other hand, Takao leaned against the bench and stared incredulously at Akashi. "What are you trying to imply, captain? Are you just jealous because all your friends have boyfriends except you?"

Midorima, realizing the peril in Takao's words, immediately jerked to her feet and shouted nervously. "Takao! No!"

Before Takao could reply, Akashi pulled out her silver blades and lunged it towards Takao's neck, the tip of the blade almost kissing his skin.

"Boyfriends?" Akashi let out a skittish laughter. "Who needs them? After all, I am absolute. I am the ultimate. I don't want down-to-earth-things like love."

"You know, you should stop acting like someone who wants to dominate the earth! Even your crush will get freaked out!"

Akashi undo the blade from Takao's neck and laughed. "Fine then, in order to settle all of this, I want to see if any of you manage to beat me in the Nationals."

Midorima and Takao switched horrified glances. Before they could speak, Akashi drew her phone from her pocket and nonchalantly tossed it at Midorima.

"What is this for?" Midorima stared at it skeptically.

"Oh that one? I want you to call Kuroko just for fun, because right now she is weeping like a bitch."

"What? What are you saying?"

"Seirin loses against Touou in the practice match, and to my pleasure, Ao-chan break her again."


	13. Ch13: An Unexpected Turn of Events

**a/n= I am back because exams is nearly done. We have a one week gap between exams, so I was able to slip off from my study desk and continue writing fics *evil grin***

**First of all, I already planned out the ending of this story. This chapter 13 onwards will focus on the events that will lead to the endings of this story. Ch. 1-12 is just the tidbit introduction with all the fillers and all, the real thing starts here! This chapter is more like a 'hint' to future events that will come and it's like the starting point; get what I'm saying?**

**I apologize if there is less midotaka moments. I am now too crazy in this one ship, but still midotaka have all the chapters they want in the story ^^**

**Please R&amp;R! Reviews are well appreciated!**

* * *

Midorima choked on her mother's specialty chicken soup.

Stammering, she fumbled for her phone in her pocket and flushed when she received a message from him.

_To: shintaromidorima _

_Subject: Good evening my princess_

_Hello Shin-chan. What are you doing? I really miss you even though we live next to each other. I love you, Shin-chan…_

_From your hawk-eyed prince ^.^_

Midorima gritted her teeth and hid her face from embarrassment. Mumbling incoherently under her breath, the green-haired female furiously typed her phone's keyboard before shoving it back into her pocket.

"Is that your boyfriend?" a meek voice pulled Midorima from her incessant thoughts. Midorima's little sister, Hiyori, looked at her sister with huge, curious eyes.

Before Midorima could threaten her to shut up, her mother let out a dramatic gasp, and to Midorima's dismay, she shrieked as if a bunch of robbers broke in to their house. "Oh my god Shintaro-chan! You have a boyfriend? You AFFORD to get a boyfriend?"

Midorima stared at her mother incredulously—her mother, Miyuki Midorima, had been nagging her daughter to get a boyfriend since Teiko days, but the latter was familiar with Midorima's abnormal tendencies about her immense belief towards Astrology. Because of that, the woman thought the only way to wed her daughter was to pay someone to actually marry her.

On the other hand, the man beside her with grassy hair beamed at her daughter with a smile. "That's really nice darling! What is his sign?"

Midorima's tense shoulders relaxed when his father joined in. "Scorpio." She muttered embarrassedly.

The older man exhaled sharply and clapped his hands together. "Scorpio and Cancer are a match make in heaven! Oh my god! Tell me, when is your wedding?"

"Takao and I don't plan to get married yet!" Midorima spat.

"That's too bad, I want a grandson soon…" her father, Midorima Satoshi, whined and shed crocodile tears, to his wife's disgust.

"Satoshi." Miyuki said warily to her husband. "Don't motivate your daughter to get into scandal behaviors."

"Yes honey!" Satoshi saluted and continued ravishing his dinner with high spirits. For the first time, Midorima cringed at the fact how Takao and her was really similar to her parents.

After a few minutes of companionable silence and Satoshi's pig-like chew, Midorima's phone rang. A new email.

Grunting, she opened her mail and scanned the contents lazily.

_To: shintaromidorima _

_Subject: You are mean_

_Come on Shin-chan! I know you miss me too! Hey Shin-chan, can you help me do the math homework from page 16? I will reward you with another cake from the café…or perhaps a kiss?_

_XD I love you Shin-chan!_

"He didn't have to say 'I love you' in every single damn email!" Midorima growled and replied him indignantly.

Apparently, she didn't realize that she had said it out loud for the whole table to hear. Her little sister chuckled, Miyuki entered into a fit of skittish laughter and Satoshi said. "Young people these days. I wonder what's her boyfriend like."

"He's like you, dad." Midorima said as if nothing had happened.

"Then he must be a wonderful man!" Satoshi said approvingly.

* * *

Takao and Midorima had been dating for three weeks.

Ever since their first kiss, Takao and Midorima decided they should tie the knot. Kise congratulated them cheerily and Kuroko, who had just have a mental dilemma with Aomine, only smiled at them.

As for Aomine, Midorima hadn't heard anything from her. Same goes for Murasakibara.

But since that incident, Midorima never saw Akashi again.

Akashi told Midorima that they would meet at the Winter Cup Stadium together to remind their rivalry. Even though Midorima whole-heartedly swore this oath back in Teiko, now she thought the whole rivalry thing was just ridiculous. Kise and Kuroko might agree, but she wasn't sure about the other two.

So today, Midorima and Takao resumed their practice in Shuutoku. Everybody thought Midorima and Takao's romance was the last thing they need, but it looked like something had happened in the court when the couple strides in the room…

"Midorima-chan!"

Midorima rolled her eyes and groaned. "What is it Sachika?"

Sachika's jet-black hair waved to and fro by her rapid stride as she approached Midorima and clasped her shoulder. "Please help me!"

"Help you with what?" Midorima responded nonchalantly.

Fortunately, Sachika didn't have to explain when a loud, angry voice echoed from the distance, followed by hurried foo steps.

"_Come back you little flea! I will throw you with a pineapple!"_

Sachika yelped and skipped behind Midorima and mewled. "Kyaa! Midorima-chan! I'm very scared!"

"You know you're annoying, right Sachi?" Takao heaved a deep sigh and glared at her.

Before Sachika could reply, Miyaji appeared from the doorway with a wrinkled pineapple in his grasp. "Where is that asshole?"

"Why did you guys keep playing this wild goose chase?" Midorima chastised as she fixed her glasses. "Are you guys in love or something?"

Like a switch, Sachika and Miyaji broke into livid denial.

Suddenly, Kimura approached them with an alarmed expression. "Oi Midorima, someone is looking for you."

Surprised, Midorima followed Kimura to walk out of the clubroom and was shocked to see the figure before her.

"N-Nijimura-senpai?"

The ex-captain of Teiko smiled sheepishly and rubbed his head. "Hey Midorima! Sorry no hugs or kisses for our reunion, but I want to take care of this first…"

Midorima's eyes followed Nijimura's hands and gasped when a tiny, unconscious figure was wrapped around Nijimura's huge fingers.

It was Kuroko Tetsuya.

"…How did this happen?" Midorima asked the captain as she pulled the covers closer towards Kuroko, who was sleeping on the infirmary bed.

Nijimura shook his head and said. "I was passing by Shuutoku and I just happened to find Tetsuya fainted on the street. Knowing that you're here, I immediately bring her for your help."

Midorima nodded and rolled her eyes wryly. "I'm surprised that you don't bring her to your house, senpai."

Nijimura's face heated and pouted. "I'm not that low, Midorima."

A smile actually slipped into Midorima's lips. The four-eyed girl got to her feet and turned to her senpai. "Well, good luck being Kuroko's prince, even though you got competition."

"Huh? Who?"

"Kagami Taiga from Seirin." Midorima straightened her glasses. "He is from America. Tall, double brows and violent."

Nijimura looked taken aback by this, but he forced out a smile. "I see…well as long as he takes care of her, I am fine."

Midorima was familiar with Nijimura's unrequited feelings towards Kuroko Tetsuya. They might not be the best couple in the world, but that doesn't mean Midorima didn't support it. But on the other hand, Nijimura was also unaware of someone unexpected holding unrequited feelings for him…

"Umm…Shintaro-chan. I come here to talk something, now that you're here."

Midorima huffed a sigh and said. "I have class, senpai."

"It's about Akashi-chan."

Midorima was caressing Kuroko's cheeks and now she turned to stare at her ex-captain, as if he admitted that he was pregnant. "Akashi?"

Aside from Nijimura's secret crush towards the angelic shadow, Midorima was one of those people who notice Akashi's undying love towards her senpai. Back in Teiko when Nijimura was no longer the captain, Akashi often approached Midorima to share her loneliness because of the captain's absence, until the point where the whole GoM broke apart, and Midorima never heard Akashi's girly spat after that.

But still, Midorima knew Akashi's feelings towards Nijimura were out of the ordinary—she would do anything for Nijimura Shuuzo, and in fact, the reason Akashi recruited Kuroko to be in the first string was for Nijimura's sake. She knew recruiting Kuroko would reducing her already slim chance with Nijimura, yet she do it anyways for the sake of her senpai's happiness.

Even someone as skeptical as Midorima believed Akashi's feelings towards Midorima were pure and genuine; irony, it came from the most unexpected person in the world.

Now that Midorima thought about it, was it the same as her feelings towards Takao? Would Midorima sacrifice every single lucky item in the world for his sake? A sad smile spread across her lips when she already knew the answer.

"Umm…Shintaro-chan, is something wrong?" Nijimura's voice brought Midorima back to reality.

Midorima nodded and replied. "Yes senpai, I am good. What are you going to talk about?"

Nijimura wrapped his arms and rubbed his chin sheepishly. After hesitating, Nijimura finally spoke. "Did something happen to Akashi-chan?"

Midorima's eyes widened. _Lots of things happened. _She said to her senpai. "It's a long story, why do you ask?"

To Midorima's bewilderment, Nijimura squinted and kneaded his temples in vexation. "I am worried about her."

Midorima blinked, realizing that the once, cold-blooded Nijimura actually cared about the most egoistic, yet lonely, Akashi Seijuuro. Honestly, Midorima found their love story extremely fascinating.

"Too many things happen, senpai." Midorima said profoundly despite the twinge growing on her throat. "The Generations of Miracles…broke apart."

Nijimura nodded, seemingly unfazed. "That's expected. I believe Tetsuya suffered the most. You, Ryota, Daiki and Atsushi too, including Akashi-chan."

"Senpai, I have one question."

"Yes?"

"Why do you never call Akashi by her name?"

Nijimura looked shocked for a moment. His gaze strayed across the room, and Midorima noticed a faint blush creeping across Nijimura's cheeks. What exactly was in his mind?

"Well, as you all know, Akashi-chan comes from a prosperous household," Nijimura said sheepishly. "I remember the first day I called her 'Akashi-chan'…she seemed taken aback. Maybe she's not used by the name. I just don't want to make her feel…uncomfortable."

Midorima gasped inwardly. Nijimura actually cared a lot about Akashi! Midorima found herself supporting Akashi's relationship with Nijimura, even though it was unlikely.

"I don't think she mind, I think she would be happy instead." The words slipped out of Midorima's tongue without she noticing.

Nijimura blinked and admitted it with a tiny smile. "T-Thanks…"

Midorima nodded and jerked on her feet when she noticed the time. "Senpai! I missed ten minutes of class! I should go now, see you senpai!"

Nijimura waved at her and grinned. "Yeah, have fun."

As Midorima retreated from the infirmary, Takao was waiting for her outside. Nijimura could hear Midorima protested at Takao for skipping class with her, and Takao replied her with a good-natured grin.

_They make a good couple. _Nijimura smiled at them as he stood up, getting ready to leave as well. After stealing one last glance at the sleeping Kuroko, he caressed her cheeks a little before he asked the nurse to inform Kuroko of her circumstances when she woke up.

Then, Nijimura left Shuutoku.

* * *

The ex-captain strolled around the road aimlessly. He was getting hungry. As he was about to cross the road to visit the town, he saw a crimson-haired, young lady in Rakuzan Uniform materialized before him. Her thick-red bangs shadowed her eyes, making her almost unrecognizable.

"Akashi-chan!"

Akashi froze. She turned over his shoulders and blushed wildly when her eyes fell upon the calling figure. "N-N-Nijimura-senpai?"

Nijimura's face brightened when she recognized him. He walked across to her and was surprised by her left, yellow-colored iris. Akashi seemed to realize Nijimura's keen eye and turned her face away with a scowl.

"Nijimura-senpai." She stated in a steely voice. "If you have any inquiries about my eyes, I am not inclined to answer any questions."

Nijimura crossed his arms and huffed with a smile. "It's all right, I won't ask."

Akashi parted her lips at loss for words. Damn it, Nijimura always said the right things to made her heart swoon…even though it was the last kind of emotion she wanted to feel.

Her gold eyes crinkled coldly and she said. "I see senpai, then I will take my leave."

As Akashi was about to advanced forward, Nijimura yanked her hand and shouted. "Akashi-chan!"

Akashi flinched by his touch. His hands were warm, just like the first time he patted her on the head when they encountered in Teiko, but nonetheless, she spat. "Leave me alone, Shuuzo-senpai. I need to attend my basketball club. Match is in three weeks."

Nijimura chuckled a little. "Really? Rakuzan is three stations away. Then why are you loitering around alone by yourself, Akashi-chan?"

"It's none of your business," Akashi said without looking at her senpai. "I just want to go somewhere to take a bite."

"I see…" Nijimura scratched his head, now he was running out of topics to speak.

"So, are you around in Tokyo to find Tetsu?"

Nijimura nodded. "Well, I just helped Tetsu just now. She was unconscious, so I brought her to Shuutoku's infirmary because it was the closest at that time when it happened."

Akashi's shoulders stiffened, and she clutched the hem of her Rakuzan Jersey. "You guys make a good couple."

Nijimura stifled a gasp and for some reason, a pained expression flashed across his face. "T-Thank you…"

Akashi nodded and reluctantly took heavy steps to leave Nijimura alone in the street. As she was about to turn the other corner, Nijimura chased and yanked her hands again, stopping her.

"Senpai, please." Akashi rolled her eyes.

"Akashi-chan! I just happened to be hungry too." Nijimura said quickly. "Let's go somewhere so we can discuss your training regime for Rakuzan—"

"Senpai, I don't need to discuss club activities with you—"

"Sei-chan! Please!"

Akashi gaped, looking dumbfounded as ever. "S-Sei-chan?"

Nijimura realized the taboo in his words and stammered. "Umm...because I call each of your friends by your first name, I think it's time I should call you by your first name too."

Akashi was silent for a moment. She couldn't help the grin that split across her face, but her cold mask was as stony as ever. After a long moment of hesitation, she finally said. "All right then. You can follow me, but in certain conditions: Limit yourself from calling my first name."

Nijimura gaped at the new Akashi he was speaking to, but he smiled anyways. "That's good Sei-chan!"

Nijimura took Akashi's hand and lead the way. On the other hand, Akashi stared at the clutched hand and smiled.

On the other side of the crossroad, two figures happened to hang around the corner. They just happened to walk out from the sneakers' store until the tall, pink-haired male pinched the shirt of the shorter girl beside him.

"Hey look Dai-chan! Isn't that Akashi-chan?"

A vein popped up on the girl's head as her voice trailed with a yawn. "Huh? I thought she is supposed to be in Rakuzan being all sharp and mighty and shit—"

"Akashi-chan is with a man!" the taller male said hastily. "Look Dai-chan!"

The dark-haired girl with boyish hair followed her friends' gaze reluctantly, and at that moment, her eyes flew wide. A little part of her old self squealed with delight of seeing blushing Akashi with a guy, but then another part of her told her to stay put and considered it as nothing but a hassle.

"She told us to be sharp, but look at her now," She hissed. "Being all buddy-buddy with a boy! Argh! Everyone already got a boyfriend huh? Too bad Tetsu's boyfriend is taken, he seems to be one hell of a hottie…"

The name 'Tetsu' wilted her eyes. She clenched her jaws together and pinched her lips. "Maybe if I can just…go there and apologize…"

The male stared at his best friend with an apologetic smile. "I'm sure, Tetsu will forgive you."

"Piss of, let's go Satsuki." She said curtly. "I want to puke at this drama."


	14. Ch14: Glowing Sparks From the Past

**a/n= Hey guys! I am back after long dead for awhile! **

**This chapter is a flashback arc of Takao and Sachika. I hope you guys like it. I do this chapter in one go and rushed, so please forgive me. I am so busy.**

**The reason I have a mini-hiatus because I was absorbed into writing my new akakuro fanfic ^.^ you may check it out if you want!**

**PLease R&amp;R! Reviews are well appreciated!**

* * *

The rhythmic dribbles of basketball echoed throughout the court.

As hurried footsteps and screeching sneakers filled in the room, a raven-haired female stood behind one of the large doors, peering at the court warily. Folding her hands into fist in determination, her topaz eyes were fixed on a certain ebony-haired male, who was running aimlessly around the court.

_Ganbatte! Kazunari-kun! _She chanted in her mind with a shy smile on her face.

Meanwhile on the basketball court, Takao Kazunari fainted on his knees as sweats drenched on his forehead. Inhaling a deep breath, the rookie player groggily got to his knees before squeezing his throbbing muscles.

"Oi Kazunari!" The coach barked at him from the side of the court. "Don't slack off during practice! You only run in the court for ten minutes!"

Takao gritted his teeth, frustrated. It had been three months ever since he signed up himself as a member of the basketball team in Shuutoku. Unlike the high schoolers, middle school students had a hard time of getting into the first string unless you're very talented. On the other hand, Takao was, in fact, in the third string as a bench warmer.

In spite of the dejected thoughts running in his mind, Takao looked up at the coach with a wide grin. "Yes sir!"

With that, Takao scrambled up to his feet, accompanied by a few fail attempts as his knees collapsed to the ground before he got up on his feet and darted towards the other running players.

The coach shook his head with a low growl. "That boy is hopeless. I don't know why Misaka-kun is so determined to put him into this club in the first place."

Then in the moment, the said girl appeared from the doorway and approached the coach. "Afternoon, coach."

"Ah, Misaka-kun." The coach flashed her a relieved smile. "I know you are standing back there cheering for your boyfriend."

Hearing that, a hint shade of pink appeared on Sachika's cheeks. "H-he's not my boyfriend!"

The coach guffawed. "Don't lie to me! You're bias towards him even though you're just a mere manager."

"That's because I see potential in him, coach." Sachika said as she brushed her fringes out of the way.

"What kind of potential?" The coach incredulously asked with a sharp sigh. "He has an extremely low stamina! He can't even shoot properly!"

"But Takao-kun loves basketball so much!" Sachika protested, her eyes glowed with resolve. "I am sure if Takao-kun practice more, he can improve!"

The coach clicked his tongues in irritation while running his fingers across his dyed blonde hair. "You realized that the Nationals is just two months away right?"

Sachika rubbed her chin thoughtfully and nodded. "Yes! Our first string this year are formidable, there's no way we are going to lose!"

The coach gave a light-hearted laugh. "There is only one problem, the Teiko high school."

Sachika's bright face darkened when the coach mentioned the latter name. It was inevitable to meet Teiko on the court if Shuutoku managed to make it to the finals or semifinals. Sachika heard rumors that Teiko high school basketball club consisted of female players—the Generations of Miracles. Sachika heard rumors that these girls never relied on their teammates whenever they play the game, yet they could be dangerous at the same time. Shuutoku may lose or win, and honestly speaking, Sachika hoped it was the former for the sake of the team's morale and mental stability.

Ten minutes later, the coach got to his feet and blew his whistle. "Time's up! Make sure to come early for practice tomorrow."

The team members dispersed from the courts and crawled towards their bags with exhausted breaths. Takao could barely keep his footing as his knee jerked again, pushing him to the ground.

Spontaneously, Sachika fumbled for the towel in her bag and rushed towards Takao with the latter.

"Kazunari-kun!" she yelled animatedly, her face brightened.

Takao looked up at his childhood friend and grinned. "Thank you Sachika!"

Takao kindly accepted the towel and smothered it all over his sweaty body. After slinging the towel around his neck, Takao released a tired sigh.

"I'm sorry Sachika…" Takao rubbed his head sheepishly. "You went all of the trouble to sign me up into this basketball club, and this is all I can do."

Sachika shook her head furiously. "No! It's not your fault! All you need is practice, Kazunari-kun!"

"Chill Sachi, Kazunari is all right." Takao chuckled. "Or Kazu-chan, like what you used to call me."

Sachika's face exploded into myriad shades of red. Stuttering, she finally spoke. "Are you crazy? We are at school you know. You don't want rumors to spread, don't you?"

Sachika and Takao were childhood friends since elementary school. Takao was always popular with girls ever since his foot stepped into the kindergarten. Ever since then, girls were always surrounding Takao.

On the other hand, Sachika was also popular with the male population. With intelligence and beauty, the raven-haired managed to be the part of the student council and excel her grades in school.

It was during somewhere in elementary school when Sachika started falling for Takao. Takao was known to reject girls, and by the end of the school year, he had rejected an around ten to fifteen girls, that's why Sachika refrained to confess to him.

For Sachika, standing beside Takao and talked like normal friends was enough for her. Takao had seen her as a sister, and Sachika was fine with that until one day she would confess to him.

"Oh yeah Sachi," Takao suddenly spoke, stopping her train of thoughts. "I noticed the first strings are a little bit tense, is it because of the nationals?"

"Yeah, the nationals are two months away," Sachika said with a frown. "The first and second years are in good shape, but there are some third years who need some boosting."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"They are afraid to compete against Teiko," Sachika added. "You know, Generations of Miracles."

"Ah that girl-team power!" Takao entered into a fit of laughter. "That team is crazy huh? I heard they are all bitch in nature, but honestly when I watch them play, they are like gods!"

"Oh, you actually watch them play?" Sachika rolled her eyes in mischief. "Don't tell me Kazunari-kun is head over heels for someone in the Miracles…"

Takao's eyes flew wide in horror and protested greatly. "Hell no! It will be a dream just to talk with one of them! Making one of them as your girlfriend will be like the end of the world!"

"Man, you're too pessimistic." Sachika muttered.

"I'm just stating the truth." Takao rolled his tongue out. "Oh yeah Sachika, if you can talk to the miracles, which one would it be?"

Sachika was silent before she spoke. "Hmm…I heard they have the phantom sixth woman. To be honest, I want to see what she's like. Oh! I think I want to interview Aomine-chan about her skills, or even Kise, she's so pretty!"

"Yeah the blonde chick is hot!" Takao scratched his head. "Well, it looks like our upperclassmen wants a piece of that big girl…the purple one I guess. They keep making guesses of her lingerie size."

"I believe her cup is E." Sachika said bluntly.

Takao rolled his eyes, his cheeks getting redder. "Anyways, some people in our grade have a loli complex, so I think the red one Akashi is their type."

"Yeah, she's a dangerous loli!" Sachika squealed in delight. "The Generations of Miracles are all so beautifu;! They should be models instead of basketball players you know."

"I wonder what the phantom sixth woman looks like." Takao said to nobody in particular. "I heard her name is Kuroko…Tetsuya?"

"What about the green-haired one?" Sachika turned to look at Takao. "She's not that popular, isn't she?"

"Ah, Midorima Shintaro?" Takao stared at Sachika questioningly. "The boys don't talk about her that much. Megane girls are not that popular. I think she's the most down to earth out of the six."

"Oh? I sense love!" Sachika teased him.

"Hell no! That girl never smiles!" Takao felt chills all over his skin. "But if anyone asked me which GoM member I would date, I think it would be her."

Sachika's stride halted. Suddenly, she felt an uncomfortable feeling knotting inside her stomach. What was this?

"Why?" she asked Takao, trying to strain her usual smile.

"Because, Aomine and Murasakibara would be too rave for me." Takao said. "And Kise and Akashi is too…eccentric I guess. I think Midorima will suit me fine."

"Well, you're welcome to introduce yourself to her," Sachika drawled petulantly. "And see if she would recognize someone from the third string!"

"Hahaha!" Takao laughed out loud. "I told you dating one of them is just a dream!"

As Takao and Sachika started to leave the school ground, a shadow behind a nearby tree peered towards the couple. After a long moment, the black figure retreated before it gave one last glance at Takao's back.

* * *

On the day of the nationals:

Takao, as a third string member and not a participant in a game, aided Sachika and the other benchwarmers to aid the first string players who were going to play.

Takao was handing lemons to the upperclassmen until one of them spoke.

"Are you Takao Kazunari?"

Takao blinked, oblivious of the knowledge that the upperclassmen actually knew his name. "Y-Yes, that's me."

"I heard you're new in the basketball club," the upperclassman smiled at him. "It's really refreshing to see a new member in the club."

Takao scratched his head sheepishly. "A-Ah I see…"

"We will win for Shuutoku today!" another bright upperclassman added. "Whether you're a second or third string, I want you guys to cheer for Shuutoku!"

"Our skills in basketball doesn't matter!" one of them piped up from the corner. "What matters is our passionate love towards basketball!"

The whole team clapped and cheered. Staring at the team in awe, Takao knew that from this point, he didn't want any other teams to achieve the trophy. Because he knew at least, Shuutoku deserved it.

* * *

_Game set! Shuutoku and Teiko…_

…_._

_60-130_

Takao's surprised, yet horrified eyes scanned through his senpais, who were gripping their melting knees while huffing ragged breaths. Most of their eyes were shadowed by despair and exhaustion.

The raven-haired turned towards the other side of the court where the Miracles stood.

None of them looked happy.

All of them were flashing a bitter glare at the green-haired woman, who was devouring her bottle in one gulp.

"That bitch is fucking greedy." Aomine chided, crossing her arms.

"We want to have fun too you know." Kise rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Mido-chin greedy." Murasakibara drawled with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Midorima, your behavior is unacceptable today!" Akashi yelled at the green-haired male, who was blatantly ignoring her angry friends.

Midorima said nothing. Instead, she grabbed his backpack and breezed out of the court like nothing had happened.

Takao was furious as he took one last glance at his despairing upperclassmen and the grumpy generation of miracles. Curling his hands into fist, Takao growled under his breath.

"I am going to beat that girl." He chanted. "She abandoned her teammates. She is so self-centered, but worse of all, she looked down on Shuutoku. I am not going to forgive her for this."

Sachika actually heard Takao's dark rambling, and she peered at him while clasping a hand over her mouth.

"Wait for me, Midorima Shintaro." Takao gritted his teeth and walked away from his bench. He made a resolve to improve on his basketball skills, and who knows, maybe he could stand at the same spot with the green-haired female he had vowed to defeat to.


	15. Ch15: Triangles, Cookies & Affairs

**a/n= YO I am back! Sorry for the long wait!**

**Please R&amp;R! Reviews are well appreciated!**

* * *

When the final class bell rang, Midorima darted towards the classroom, leaving her boyfriend yelling and running after her. The green-haired female was so worried of Kuroko, who had been sleeping in the clinic.

As she stormed into the infirmary room, she cried out her name. "Kuroko! Are you all right?

At first, she was met with startled and puzzled glances from the nurse, but Kuroko's tired, yet angelic voice echoed from behind the room. "I am all right, Midorima-san. Thank you for helping me."

Midorima's distressed expression recede and her usual, calm demeanor fell over her features. "I see. It is unfortunate for your health Kuroko. You need to take care of yourself."

Kuroko chuckled. "Yes, Midorima-san."

Takao appeared behind his girlfriend with ragged breath. The hawk-eyed player panted to regain his breathing before his lips twisted into a goofy grin. "Shin-chan is worried about you, Kuro-chan!"

"I know that, Takao-san." Kuroko laughed a little. "It was written all over her face."

Kuroko and Takao shared laughter while Midorima fixed her glasses with a hint of redness on her face. "Shut up. It's not like I care or anything. It will be bothersome if one of my friends got sick."

Kuroko's eyes widened, shocked. She would never thought of the day Midorima would acknowledge her as a friend. "You're going soft, Midorima-san." She said with a faint smile, rubbing her chin bashfully.

Midorima wrapped her arms over her chest and said. "Nijimura-senpai is the one who find you by the way. He happened to pass the Shuutoku gates just now."

Kuroko raised her brow. "Ah, I see."

"Are you all right, Kuro-chan?" Takao asked, his voice full of concern. He planted on the bed across Kuroko. "Why did you pass out?"

For weird reasons, Midorima felt a twinge of pain when Takao asked Kuroko about her well-being. _Takao was just being nosy as usual_! She convinced herself. What was this feeling? She immediately swallowed it before anyone noticed.

"Kuroko, are you sick?"

"Nah, it's just…" Kuroko smiled wistfully. "I've been thinking of Dai-chan. She is not…particularly nice when I met her last time."

Midorima knew how close Aomine and Kuroko were back in Teiko. They were partners in the court, but because of their great difference in growth, they slowly drifted apart to the point Aomine didn't even acknowledge their friendship. Back then, Midorima detested how Kuroko considered it as a big deal, but now the four-eyed girl felt hurt as if she was involved.

"Aomine still haven't found the opponent that suits her huh?" Midorima asked the bluenet.

Midorima regretted her question when a pained expression flashed across Kuroko's face. "She…actually found it, Kagami-kun."

"Kagami? That red brute?" Takao asked meekly, and his unforgettable conversation with Kagami drifted into his mind. He couldn't help but to let the grin split his face.

Kuroko nodded with a tired smile. "After the Touou Match, she asked Kagami-kun for his number. Since then, Aomine has been meeting up with Kagami for one-on-one. Satsuki says Kagami's appearance spark the dead light inside Aomine, and she even come to practice often. I guess it's a good thing huh?"

Midorima studied Kuroko for a long moment. Even though the teal-haired female was spitting out positive things, Midorima noticed the wrinkles and somehow the invulnerable traces from Kuroko's face.

"You're not happy, did you?" Midorima suddenly asked her.

Kuroko's jaw dropped at Midorima's question. "No! Of course not! If Kagami-kun can help Aomine-san, it's good for me! They are also good at basketball…they make a good couple…"

"I don't ask you if they make a good couple or not." Midorima spat.

"Ah." Kuroko looked startled and avoided Midorima's gaze. "Sorry."

"You like Kagami, didn't you?" Midorima asked her in a serious tone.

Kuroko's face exploded into a myriad shades of red and protested. "No! Don't decide that on your own, Midorima-san!"

"You do." Midorima frowned. "And you're jealous. Admit it."

Kuroko shook her head and gripped the covers. "That is weird coming from you, Midorima."

"That's how it is when people are in love!" Midorima blurted out, feeling Takao's incredulous gaze and her cheeks warming. "It is normal to feel jealous when you're in love. You don't want that person to belong with anybody else! I think that is normal!"

Kuroko stared at Midorima for a long time before she giggled. "It seems like dating Takao-san knock the sense into you, am I right?"

"No! It's not from that idiot!"

"You're denying it again." Kuroko said softly with a sarcastic tone.

Takao, who had been silent, finally spoke confidently. "If it's Kagami you're afraid of, I think he loves you, Kuro-chan."

"Why are you so certain?" Kuroko inquired him suspiciously.

"Because only idiots would be in love with a member from Generation of Miracles," Takao winked with a grin. "Him, and the person speaking this to you."

Kuroko actually laughed. "Yes, Kagami is a huge idiot sometimes."

Midorima jabbed Takao on the elbow and chided. "Are you mocking me?"

Takao giggled at Midorima's sudden mood swing. "If being an idiot would captivate your heart, I would gladly stepped down and took the idiot throne for your sake, my queen."

Midorima's face flushed. "Shut up you…"

Takao shut her up with a kiss on the forehead.

Just on time, Sachika and Miyaji appeared from the door.

"Hey Takao, you need to finish this assignment sensei has delivered…" Sachika rambled.

"Oi, you two it's practice time!" Miyaji yelled.

Then, they froze.

Sachika and Miyaji traded baffled glances and looked at Kuroko, who mirrored the same expression.

"Get a room you two!" The three of them screamed in unison.

* * *

_After school:_

"Shin-chan! Let's hit the café!" Takao sang song, crossing his arms behind his head.

Midorima turned to him with a smile. "Yeah let's. Kise and her captain are there too. We can meet up."

"Shin-chan is more considerate now!" Takao drawled before he smirked.

Midorima pouted, pumping her fist in front of her chest. "Takao, shut up."

"Woah! Are you pouting?"

Midorima's cute expression crumbled into a petulant glare. "Are you judging me?" she hissed.

Takao raised his hand on the air. "I surrender miss!"

Midorima tried to keep her laugher as she kept the semi frown on her face. For a while moment, a skittish giggle escaped her lips.

"Got you." Takao poked her on the cheek.

Midorima elbowed him lightly while groaning. "You're so annoying!"

"Does Scorpio outranked Cancer today?"

"Yeah, by three places." Midorima muttered.

"No wonder you're so docile today."

"What?" Midorima asked, baffled.

Takao winked at her and grinned. "Nothing!"

Midorima slammed Takao's shoulder with her bag. Takao evaded it effortlessly by swiftly taking a few steps to the left. As green eyes met gold, they smirked in unison, and the battle had begun.

The couple tried to hit one another with their school bags. As they meandered and ran around like a pair of ignorant happy kids, Midorima almost jerked to the ground before Takao caught her waist.

They were both stuck like that for a long moment before Takao said.

"You changed a lot, Shin-chan," he whispered softly.

Midorima could feel the air cooler than Takao's warm breath fanning on her neck. She hummed. "Maybe."

Takao closed his eyes before he opened them again. "You know Shin-chan, there is nobody at the moment."

Midorima felt her breath caught up on her throat. She nodded nervously. "Yeah."

As they tilted their head closer to close their distance, a girlish shriek piped up out of the blue.

"Please go out with me, bastard!"

The two snapped out of tAheir embrace immediately. Switching confused glances, Midorima and Takao followed the voice until they arrived on a small basketball court in the middle of the street.

Midorima's eyes widened. "Is that…"

They saw Aomine and Kagami stood in the middle of the court.

To Midorima's dismay, she saw a faint blush brushing Aomine's dark-skinned cheeks. The old Aomine wouldn't even bother to ask a guy out, but now here she was, asking Kagami out to be her boyfriend out of the blue.

"I'm sorry." Kagami replied, seemingly unfazed. "I am in love with someone else."

Aomine's face struck with horror as she slowly spoke. "It is she, wasn't it?"

Kagami said nothing.

Aomine gritted her teeth and hit Kagami repeatedly on his broad chest. "What do you like about her? She is so…determined on false hope!"

"What do you know about her?" Kagami asked Aomine gently, yet there was a hint of anger in her voice. "She is hurting. You know that, right?"

As Aomine said something barely audible, Midorima and Takao decided to approach them out of curiosity.

* * *

_Somewhere close by:_

She gulped, her fingers grasped towards the paper bag she was holding. It was not like she baked these cookies for him or anything, it's just that she wanted to return the favor for buying him snacks when she ran out of money.

"Yo Atsu-chan, thanks for waiting." A raven-haired boy with fringes that covered one of his silver eyes called her with a smile.

The lavender, bun-haired tall girl shoved the paper bag at his face. "For Murocchin, because he is so kind to me."

Himuro looked at the bag for a moment before he took it nicely and grinned. "Thank you so much Atsu-chan!"

The raven-haired boy ruffled her hair affectionately. Murasakibara was a tall girl, but Himuro was lucky to be a few centimeters taller that her head reached towards his chin, and her tall bun almost touching his nose.

Murasakibara returned the affection and giggled. "Murocchin, try my cookies."

"Okay." Himuro agreed and pulled out a brown cookie from the bag before he took a bit. His eyes widened in realization as the sugary taste of chocolate hit his senses.

"This is delicious!" Himuro's eyes sparked stars. "You should be a patisserie chef!"

Murasakibara stifled a gasp at his praise. "Umm…thank you?"

Himuro chuckled before he pulled out a pocky box from his bag. "Here is your snack for today."

Murasakibara looked at the snack for a long while before pouting. "Will Murocchin still be my friend if I got fat?"

Himuro smirked at her and laughed. "Isn't that a rhetorical question?"

"What's a rhetorical question, Murocchin?"

"It's obvious Atsu-chan," Himuro laughed. "I will always be your friend even if you gain one hundred pounds."

"Yay." Murasakibara deadpanned and curled their fingers together as they walked home.

As they walked home from school, Murasakibara saw a familiar red-haired woman, walking hand in hand with a silver-haired man.

"Oh, akacchin!"

Akashi beamed at Murasakibara. "Hey Murasakibara, is that your boyfriend?"

"Murocchin is a boy, and he's my friend." Murasakibara said lazily as she started nibbling her pocky. "What about him?"

Akashi turned to the silver-haired teen, who was scowling at her. His face was void of emotions.

"Let me introduce you, Atsushi," Akashi leered. "This is Mayuzumi Chihiro, he is my _boyfriend_."


End file.
